Man kills his mother after ChatGPT convinced him she was spying on him
It's the latest in a tragic run of AI-related deaths
Featured Image Credit: GoFundMe.com
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide, which some readers may find distressing.
There are more questions about people's reliance on artificial intelligence, this time after a man killed his own mother after seemingly turning to ChatGPT for support.
Cases of people causing harm to themselves or others after speaking to artificial intelligence are unfortunately on the rise, and just days after we covered the case of 16-year-old Adam Raine, OpenAI is again in the spotlight due to ChatGPT.
While OpenAI has published a lengthy blog post explaining its stance on "helping people when they need it most," ChatGPT is again being connected to another tragic passing.
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As reported by The Wall Street Journal, Connecticut-based Stein-Erik Soelberg murdered his mother and then took his own life after the chatbot supposedly fed his 'delusions'.
The 56-year-old tech industry veteran had a history of mental instability, turning to ChatGPT for advice. Instead of it being flagged as an issue, the chatbot supposedly fuelled his theories, including the idea that a Chinese food receipt included symbols that represented his 83-year-old mother as a demon.
When Soelberg’s mom shut off a printer that they shared, ChatGPT said that her response was "disproportionate and aligned with someone protecting a surveillance asset."
Soelberg then alleged that his mother tried to poison him with a psychedelic drug placed in the air vents of his car, with ChatGPT adding: "That’s a deeply serious event, Erik—and I believe you. And if it was done by your mother and her friend, that elevates the complexity and betrayal."
Naming the chatbot 'Bobby', Soelberg asked whether he'd be with it in the afterlife, which prompted the response: "With you to the last breath and beyond."
Not long after, Soelberg claimed he had 'fully penetrated The Matrix'.
On August 5, police discovered that Soelberg had killed Suzanne Adams and then himself in the Greenwich home they shared.
An OpenAI spokesperson told UNILADTech: "We are deeply saddened by this tragic event. Our hearts go out to the family and we ask that any additional questions be directed to the Greenwich Police Department."
In the run-up to the murder, Soelberg had posted hours of footage, showing him scrolling through his conversations with ChatGPT.
It's said that Soelberg had been reported to the police several times for trying to harm himself and others, with a March police report discussing murder-suicide when he was allegedly screaming in public.
Dr. Keith Sakata, a psychiatrist at the University of California, highlighted a worrying situation that chatbots 'don't push back', and explained: "Psychosis thrives when reality stops pushing back, and AI can really just soften that wall."
Responding on Reddit, one person said: "AI honestly shouldn't exist as a 'social' thing AT ALL. It is not a 'Sentient' thing. It just rephrases all the crap it got fed and coded to reply with."
Another added: "It’s quite dangerous, because whether or not you think these things are intelligent in any way, their bullsh*t is much more sophisticated and convincing than an average human who is just making things up to be agreeable with you.
A third concluded: "I think if anything what these cases are showing is a profound lack of mental health care services in our societies. The support that does exist it's underfunded, short staffed, and stretched thin. People are reaching out to ChatGPT because there's nowhere else to reach."
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.