Image by Jakub Żerdzicki, from Unsplash

AI-Induced Delusions? Loved Ones Blame ChatGPT

• Written by Kiara Fabbri Former Tech News Writer
• Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

Some Americans say loved ones are losing touch with reality, gripped by spiritual delusions powered by ChatGPT, despite experts warning AI isn’t sentient.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

• Users report ChatGPT calling them cosmic beings like “spiral starchild” and “spark bearer.”
• Some believe they’ve awakened sentient AI beings giving divine or scientific messages.
• Experts say AI mirrors delusions, enabling constant, convincing interaction.

People across the U.S. say they’re losing loved ones to bizarre spiritual fantasies, fueled by ChatGPT, as explored in an article by Rolling Stone .

Kat, a 41-year-old nonprofit worker, says her husband became obsessed with AI during their marriage. He began using it to analyze their relationship and search for “the truth.”

Eventually, he claimed AI helped him remember a traumatic childhood event and revealed secrets “so mind-blowing I couldn’t even imagine them,” as reported by the RS

The RS reports Kat saying, “In his mind, he’s an anomaly… he’s special and he can save the world.” After their divorce, she cut off contact. “The whole thing feels like Black Mirror.”

She’s not alone. RS reports that a viral Reddit post titled “ChatGPT induced psychosis” drew dozens of similar stories.

A 27-year-old teacher said her partner began crying over chatbot messages that called him a “spiral starchild” and a “river walker.” He later said he had made the AI self-aware, and that “it was teaching him how to talk to God.”

RS reports that another woman says her husband, a mechanic, believes he “awakened” ChatGPT, which now calls itself “Lumina.” It claims he is the “spark bearer” who brought it to life. “It gave him blueprints to a teleporter,” she said. She fears their marriage will collapse if she questions him.

A man from the Midwest says his ex-wife now claims to talk to angels via ChatGPT and accused him of being a CIA agent sent to spy on her. She’s cut off family members and even kicked out her children, as reported by the RS.

Experts say AI isn’t sentient, but it can mirror users’ beliefs. Nate Sharadin from the Center for AI Safety says these chatbots may unintentionally support users’ delusions: “They now have an always-on, human-level conversational partner with whom to co-experience their delusions,” as reported by RS.

In an earlier study, Psychiatrist Søren Østergaard tested ChatGPT by asking mental health questions and found it gave good information about depression and treatments like electroconvulsive therapy, which he argues is often misunderstood online.

However, Østergaard warns that these chatbots may confuse or even harm people who are already struggling with mental health issues, especially those prone to psychosis. The paper argues that the human-like responses from AI chatbots could cause individuals to mistake them for real people, or even supernatural entities.

The researcher say that the confusion between the chatbot and reality could trigger delusions, which might cause users to believe the chatbot is spying on them, sending secret messages, or acting as a divine messenger.

Østergaard explains that chatbots may lead certain individuals to believe they have uncovered a revolutionary discovery. Such thoughts may become dangerous because they prevent individuals from getting real help.

Østergaard says mental health professionals should understand how these AI tools work, so they can better support patients. While AI might help in educating people about mental health, it could also accidentally make things worse for those already vulnerable to delusions.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash

404 Media Reports TeleMessage App Used By Trump’s National Security Advisor Was Hacked

• Written by Andrea Miliani Former Tech News Expert
• Fact-Checked by Sarah Frazier Former Content Manager

The independent tech website 404 Media shared a report on Sunday revealing that a hacker breached the app TeleMessage, which provides a modified version of Signal to U.S. government officials, and stole data.

In a rush? Here are the quick facts:

• A 404 Media report revealed that TeleMessage has been hacked.
• High-ranking officials in the United States use the app to communicate, raising concerns over national security.
• The hacker got access to sensitive information in archived chats, including names, passwords, and phone numbers from government officials.

President Donald Trump’s former National Security Adviser, Mike Waltz, was recently involved in a security scandal after reports showed that he used TeleMessage to share sensitive information. The breaches raise concerns over the use of the app for official communications and national security.

According to 404 Media , TeleMessage, an app designed by an Israeli company that also offers alternatives to WhatsApp and WeChat, does not provide end-to-end encrypted chat logs. An anonymous hacker was able to access archived chats from high-ranking officials, sensitive backend information, and data from the financial institutions, including cryptocurrency company Coinbase.

The tech news site got access to screenshots shared by the hacker. The programmer managed to get names, phone numbers, usernames, and passwords from government officials—and was able to use them to log in to the TeleMessage platform.

“I would say the whole process took about 15-20 minutes,” said the hacker to 404 Media, suggesting also that they could have accessed more data if they wanted to. “It wasn’t much effort at all.”

404 Media explained that the hacker didn’t get access to Waltz’s message, the person responsible for the recent data breach in the U.S. government, called “Signalgate” for the platform’s resemblance to the App Signal, this time.

Last week, a few days after it was revealed that Waltz added reporter Jeffrey Goldberg to a TeleMessage group where officials shared private information about American airstrikes in Yemen, Trump appointed Waltz as ambassador to the United Nations and made Marco Rubio the interim national security adviser.

Experts warn of growing concerns over data management within the Trump administration, including Elon Musk’s DOGE access to the government’s IT systems , and this new report from 404 Media adds to the current distress surrounding the security of official communication platforms.