[Ads-l] AI psychosis, AI delusional disorder

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

The term "AI psychosis" has emerged recently. An article on the Wired
website quotes James MacCabe, a professor in the Department of
Psychosis Studies at King’s College London who stated that "psychosis
is a misnomer. AI delusional disorder would be a better term."

Website: Wired
Article: AI Psychosis Is Rarely Psychosis at All
Author: Robert Hart
Timestamp: Sep 18, 2025 6:30 AM

[Begin excerpt]
A new trend is emerging in psychiatric hospitals. People in crisis are
arriving with false, sometimes dangerous beliefs, grandiose delusions,
and paranoid thoughts. A common thread connects them: marathon
conversations with AI chatbots.

WIRED spoke with more than a dozen psychiatrists and researchers, who
are increasingly concerned. In San Francisco, UCSF psychiatrist Keith
Sakata says he has counted a dozen cases severe enough to warrant
hospitalization this year, cases in which artificial intelligence
"played a significant role in their psychotic episodes." As this
situation unfolds, a catchier definition has taken off in the
headlines: "AI psychosis."
[End excerpt]

[Begin excerpt]
But according to MacCabe, case reports of AI psychosis almost
exclusively focus on delusions—strongly held but false beliefs that
cannot be shaken by contradictory evidence. While acknowledging some
cases may meet the criteria for a psychotic episode, MacCabe says
"there is no evidence" that AI has any influence on the other features
of psychosis. "It is only the delusions that are affected by their
interaction with AI." Other patients reporting mental health issues
after engaging with chatbots, MacCabe notes, exhibit delusions without
any other features of psychosis, a condition called delusional
disorder.

With the focus so squarely on distorted beliefs, MacCabe’s verdict is
blunt: "AI psychosis is a misnomer. AI delusional disorder would be a
better term."
[End excerpt]

Garson

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