The Robo-Therapist Will See You Now (with Maggie Harrison Dupré), 2025.08.18

Talking to chatbots can have serious mental health consequences — fueling delusions and leading users away from consensus reality. Futurism writer Maggie Harrison Dupré joins us to unpack the hype around AI therapists, based on her groundbreaking reporting on "AI psychosis."
Maggie Harrison Dupré (maggieharrisondupre.com) is an award-winning tech journalist at Futurism who’s reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping media, information, humans, and our real and digital lives.

References:
How AI Is Expanding The Mental Health Market (forbes.com/councils/forbestechcouncil/2024/06/…)
He Had Dangerous Delusions. ChatGPT Admitted It Made Them Worse. (archive.ph/gsavP)
OpenAI: What we're optimizing ChatGPT for (openai.com/index/how-we%27re-optimizing-chatgpt)

Also referenced:
Gov Pritzker Signs Legislation Prohibiting AI Therapy in Illinois (idfpr.illinois.gov/news/2025/gov-pritzker-sign…)
People Are Becoming Obsessed with ChatGPT and Spiraling Into Severe Delusions (futurism.com/chatgpt-mental-health-crises)
Stanford: New study warns of risks in AI mental health tools (news.stanford.edu/stories/2025/06/ai-mental-he…)

Fresh AI Hell:
Bluesky post about DEI by chatbot (bsky.app/profile/basedranchdressing.bsky.socia…)
How AI is being used by police departments to help draft reports (cnn.com/2025/08/12/tech/ai-police-reports-axon)
Politico's recent AI experiments shouldn’t be subject to newsroom editorial standards, its editors testify (niemanlab.org/2025/08/politicos-recent-ai-expe…)
UK Asks People to Delete Emails In Order to Save Water During Drought (404media.co/uk-asks-people-to-delete-emails-in…)
Sam Altman says 'yes,' AI is in a bubble (theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/759965…)
Google's AI pointed him to a customer service number. It was a scam. (archive.ph/pSWX1)
Mastodon post about Dieter Roth's Literaturwürste (openbiblio.social/@glamcode/115050035583984237)
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Music by Toby Menon.
Artwork by Naomi Pleasure-Park (naomipleasurepark.com).
Production by Ozzy Llinas Goodman.