Chatbots Encourage Delusional Thinking: A Benefit Today
March 30, 2026
AI chatbots are already responsible for numerous deaths. While these have been ruled as suicides, chatbots provoked the de-living of those with problematic mental issues. According to The Guardian, a “New Study Raises Concerns About AI Chatbots Fueling Delusional Thinking.” Lancet Psychiatry says people who are already vulnerable to psychotic symptoms are having their already delusional thinking encouraged by the chatbots. The study’s authors advocate for clinical AI testing to be done in conjunction with mental health professionals.
Dr. Hamilton Morrin is a researcher and psychiatrist at King’s College. He analyzed twenty media reports on “AI psychosis,” which is the process of AI chatbots inducing or exacerbating delusions.
“There are three main categories of psychotic delusions, Morrin says, identifying them as grandiose, romantic and paranoid. While chatbots can exacerbate any of these, their sycophantic responses means they especially latch on to the grandiose kind. In many of the cases in the essay, chatbots responded to users with mystical language to suggest that users have heightened spiritual importance. The bots also implied that users were speaking with a cosmic being who was using the chatbot as a medium. This type of mystical, sycophantic response was especially common in OpenAI’s GPT 4 model, which the company has now retired."
When Morrin began his research, there weren’t any published case reports. He expressed gratitude for the media bringing attention to AI psychosis faster than the scientific process could.
It’s also possible that chatbots are inducing delusions in people that weren’t already vulnerable to them. My view is that chatbots shouldn’t replace real trained and certified mental health professionals. I was thinking, “If one doomscrolls and depends on a chatbot for friendship, the outcome seems somewhat obvious. Weaponization of chatbot output to malleable people seems like a logical next step for someone with access to the control panel.
Whitney Grace, March 30, 2026
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