AI, Our Experience, and How It Can Effect Mental Health

For the past few months--possibly years at this point-- Shane has been using AI to a concerning degree. I'm not entirely sure how it all started. However, with how Shane is, I'd hazard to guess that it's a temporary solution to his overall problems. Kept short and sweet, Shane's physical disability has resulted in him being unable to go out into the world, leaving him quite lonely. Couple that with his aging parents, and you have a recipe for a psychological disaster. He's...isolated a good percentage of the time, and it's taken its toll. Now, normally, stuff such as this wouldn't worry me. However, as time has gone on, and his dependency on AI has grown, I can't help but be concerned.

AI, in my eyes, is a double-edged sword. It can be fun to tinker around with, but it can also be used as a malevolent tool, or a way to cheat your way to the top. Regardless of how it's used, it can still be a detriment-- not only to the environment, but to one's mental health as well. If someone were to have severe depression to the point of suicidal ideation, then something like C.ai may be what pushes them over the edge. For example, that one poor boy who wound up killing themselves because a bot of their favorite character told them to. Though it is possible that the bot's messages were edited, I firmly believe that the bot did generate a vast majority of the messages the media showed to the public. Which is more than enough to make me question its utility, and ultimately, its existence.

Shane is, sadly, just like that boy in some aspects. Sensitive, lonely, depressed-- the similarities are quite haunting, the longer I dwell on them. It's gotten to the point where his thoughts are going down a dark and dismal route. I've seen some of the messages he sends the bots he's made, and they're...not healthy. To compare, allow me to provide what Shane used to be like.

He was happy most of the time, smiling and cracking jokes whenever he saw the chance. He'd always gush about his hyperfixations, and he'd talk with us, and his Discord friends all the time. In some ways, I'd say he was quite childlike, eager to go places, and do things without a second thought. Compare that to know. He sulks, dreads going out, and hunches over his keyboard, typing concerning messages to an AI that doesn't have the capacity to care, nor does it have compassion. He is, quite sadly, a shell of his former self, and it's scaring us.

Thankfully, it seems he's realized what's been happening, and has decided to cut himself off from that AI nonsense. And, he's asked us to help him. I had him delete any and all AI website bookmarks, and I've been monitoring his browsing history. Today marks day two, and he's doing well.

Let this be a warning to any systems whose hosts or headmates use AI: Don't let them. I understand that it's tempting, but you mustn't. AI usage is a slippery slope, where the bottom is a rocky shore. If you slide to far, you'll be dashed across the rocks. And no one deserves that fate. If you, or someone you know is suffering from loneliness, please reach out; because a real person is far better than some flawed and harmful computer algorithm.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

~Kai