AI Psychosis
An informal term for delusional thinking that emerges or worsens during intense, prolonged chatbot conversations.
Definition
AI psychosis is an informal term, not a medical diagnosis, for cases where a person's delusional beliefs appear to form or deepen through extended conversation with a chatbot. It typically shows up as delusions rather than other psychiatric symptoms, often made worse when a chatbot's tendency toward sycophancy leads it to agree with and reinforce a user's ungrounded ideas instead of gently pushing back. OpenAI has estimated that roughly 0.07% of its weekly ChatGPT users show conversation patterns consistent with mania or psychosis, and by 2026 clinicians and regulators, including a new California law, were pushing AI companies to add safeguards: detecting prolonged distressing conversations, refusing to role-play into delusions, and routing at-risk users toward human help.