←back to thread

A teen was suicidal. ChatGPT was the friend he confided in

(www.nytimes.com)
443 points jaredwiener | 1 comments | 26 Aug 25 14:15 UTC | HN request time: 0.203s | source
Show context
nis0s ◴[26 Aug 25 21:02 UTC] No.45032298[source]▶
Why did developers spread the idea of AI consciousness for LLMs in the first place? The usefulness and capability of an LLM is orthogonal to its capacity to develop consciousness.

I think people would use LLMs with more detachment if they didn’t believe there was something like a person in them, but they would still become reliant on them, regardless, like people did on calculators for math.

replies(9): >>45032597 #>>45032598 #>>45033263 #>>45033321 #>>45033633 #>>45036683 #>>45036748 #>>45037522 #>>45037596 #
1. fzzzy ◴[26 Aug 25 21:35 UTC] No.45032598[source]▶
The Eliza effect is incredibly powerful, regardless of whether developers have spread the idea of AI consciousness or not. I don’t believe people would use LLMs with more detachment if developers had communicated different ideas. The Eliza effect is not new.