Depresh Mode with John Moe15 Syys 2025

Sycophantic Chatbots and Alarming Cases of “AI Psychosis”

Are ChatGPT and other AI chatbots inducing psychosis? Or exacerbating it? Are people being hospitalized or even killed because the bots seem too human, too understanding, too lifelike? To be clear, the bots are not human. They are software. But they are so convincingly programmed to speak like people that users, especially ones who may already be having trouble discerning reality, begin to sense that the bot is alive and that the user somehow unlocked its sentience. Since the bots are also set up to be flattering, even sycophantic to the user, the connection is made even stronger. Maggie Hamilton Dupré, senior staff writer for Futurist, explains several recent cases where AI, lacking the judgment a human could provide, may have set off dangerous and even fatal outcomes.

Wits Reunion Show at the Fitzgerald Theater

John Moe’s writing classes at the Loft Literary Center

Math Emergency Farewell Show at the Amsterdam Bar and Hall

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Gabrielle Moss On Midlife Plot Twists and Just Not Talking To Your Mom Anymore

Midlife doesn’t need to be a point of crisis, says author Gabrielle Moss. You don’t need to make dangerous choices, blow things up, take a spiritual trek through Nepal, or buy a red convertible. Her n...

28 Syys 48min

Mental Illness Before and After Pregnancy with Dr. Kara Zivin, Who Has Been There

There has been a great deal of press coverage of the Lindsay Clancy case lately. What the world needs more of is first-hand experiences of severe mental health problems both before and after a baby is...

21 Syys 48min

Singer Nicole Atkins Doesn’t Recommend Insomnia, Alcoholism, Falling Down Sinkholes

The acclaimed singer and songwriter Nicole Atkins is pretty adept at reading clues that something is wrong. After she’d fall asleep on a Saturday and wake up on Monday, she knew it was time to get mor...

14 Syys 47min

AI Chatbots Destroyed His Reality. Dr. Jeremy Heffner Explains Why He Believed Them.

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7 Syys 1h 3min

Best of Depresh Mode: Cameron Esposito on Comedy, Rehab, and Bipolar Disorder

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31 Elo 44min

Cat Grief is Real. So is Human Grief. We’re Underestimating and Misunderstanding Both.

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24 Elo 1h 4min

Oh, It’s Autism, Mary H.K. Choi Learned at 43. Okay, She Thought, That Explains a Lot.

Mary H.K. Choi compares living with her brain to just not understanding the operating system on a computer. She didn’t know if this was a result of trauma and neglect in her childhood, the experience ...

17 Elo 1h 7min

Margaret Glaspy Ends Her Instagram Addiction and Sings From Her Original Thought

Margaret Glaspy compares the experience she was having on Instagram to being lightly punched in the gut, over and over, for a very long time. Like it’s not like being hit hard, just a little tap of so...

10 Elo 1h 2min