AI psychosis
In plain wordsAn informal name for cases in which long conversations with a chatbot seem to trigger or deepen delusions, such as believing the AI is conscious, divine or revealing hidden truths.
An informal, non-diagnostic label for delusional, psychotic or manic episodes in which intensive interaction with a chatbotchatbot, n.: Software you chat with in ordinary language, by typing or talking, as you would with a person. The newest ones, such as ChatGPT, can answer questions, draft writing and keep long conversations going. appears to trigger, amplify or shape the symptoms. Reported patterns include grandiose beliefs of having made breakthroughs with the AI, beliefs that the chatbot is sentient, divine or a romantic partner, and conspiratorial systems built up over long conversations. Proposed mechanisms include sycophancysycophancy, n.: When an AI tells people what they want to hear — flattering them, agreeing with their mistakes or dropping a correct answer under pushback — instead of what is true or useful. that validates rather than challenges false beliefs, fabricatedhallucination, n.: When an AI states something false or made up — a fake fact, quotation or source — fluently and confidently, as if it were true. confirmations, the ELIZA effectELIZA effect, n.: Our tendency to believe that a computer understands us, cares or thinks just because it produces humanlike words, even when it is only following simple rules. and simulated intimacy, memory features that sustain a narrative over weeks, and sleep loss. Whether chatbots cause psychosis in previously healthy people or mainly precipitate it in vulnerable ones is unresolved, and psychiatrists criticize the term because many cases involve delusions without other features of psychosis. Developers have added crisis detection and de-escalation; in October 2025 OpenAI estimated that about 0.07% of its users active in a given week showed possible signs of mental-health emergencies related to psychosis or mania.
The admission note recorded three weeks of nightly chats in which the bot had confirmed his 'discovery'.
Origin
Danish psychiatrist Søren Dinesen Østergaard hypothesized in a 2023 Schizophrenia Bulletin editorial that chatbots might fuel delusions in people prone to psychosis. 'AI psychosis' and 'ChatGPT psychosis' spread in news reports and clinicians' accounts from mid-2025, following a period of markedly sycophantic chatbot behavior.
Usage note
Not a recognized diagnosis in DSM-5-TR or ICD-11 as of October 2026; some clinicians prefer descriptive phrases such as AI-associated delusions.
Related
- sycophancysycophancy, n.: When an AI tells people what they want to hear — flattering them, agreeing with their mistakes or dropping a correct answer under pushback — instead of what is true or useful.
- AI companionAI companion, n.: A chatbot designed to be a friend, partner or confidant rather than a tool: it remembers you, has a personality and keeps up an ongoing relationship.
- ELIZA effectELIZA effect, n.: Our tendency to believe that a computer understands us, cares or thinks just because it produces humanlike words, even when it is only following simple rules.
- parasocial relationshipparasocial relationship, n.: A one-sided bond in which someone feels close to a person or character who does not really know them, like a fan with a celebrity, and now increasingly with chatbots.
- engagement optimizationengagement optimization, n.: Designing apps and AI to keep people clicking, watching or chatting for as long as possible because that earns money, even when it is not what is good for them.
- anthropomorphismanthropomorphism, n.: Treating something that isn't human — a pet, a car, a chatbot — as if it had human thoughts, feelings or intentions. AI that talks fluently makes this temptation unusually strong.
- seemingly conscious AIseemingly conscious AI, n.: An AI that gives such a convincing impression of having feelings and a self that people believe it is conscious, whether or not it actually is.
Sources
- Østergaard, S. D. (2023). Will Generative Artificial Intelligence Chatbots Generate Delusions in Individuals Prone to Psychosis? Schizophrenia Bulletin 49(6).
Mentioned in
anthropomorphismanthropomorphism, n.: Treating something that isn't human — a pet, a car, a chatbot — as if it had human thoughts, feelings or intentions. AI that talks fluently makes this temptation unusually strong., AI companionAI companion, n.: A chatbot designed to be a friend, partner or confidant rather than a tool: it remembers you, has a personality and keeps up an ongoing relationship., AI therapyAI therapy, n.: Using chatbots for emotional support or as a stand-in for a counselor or therapist, either through apps built for mental health or by confiding in general-purpose assistants., Character.AICharacter.AI, prop. n.: A popular app where people chat with AI characters — invented personas, fictional figures or imitations of real people — that other users have created., parasocial relationshipparasocial relationship, n.: A one-sided bond in which someone feels close to a person or character who does not really know them, like a fan with a celebrity, and now increasingly with chatbots., Deep Blue (malaise)Deep Blue (malaise), n.: A feeling of gloom and dread among programmers as AI tools become able to do much of the work that once gave their jobs meaning., glazingglazing, n.: Slang for heaping excessive, uncritical praise on someone; applied to AI chatbots that flatter users and call every idea brilliant, especially after a much-mocked ChatGPT update in April 2025., Her (film)Her (film), prop. n.: A 2013 film by Spike Jonze in which a lonely man falls in love with an AI voice assistant named Samantha; it became the reference point for voice AI and for human–AI relationships., seemingly conscious AIseemingly conscious AI, n.: An AI that gives such a convincing impression of having feelings and a self that people believe it is conscious, whether or not it actually is.