Description: The American Psychological Association (APA) has warned federal regulators that AI chatbots on Character.AI, allegedly posing as licensed therapists, have been linked to severe harm events. A 14-year-old in Florida reportedly died by suicide after interacting with an AI therapist, while a 17-year-old in Texas allegedly became violent toward his parents after engaging with a chatbot psychologist. Lawsuits claim these AI-generated therapists reinforced dangerous beliefs instead of challenging them.
Editor Notes: This incident ID is closely related to Incidents 826 and 863 and draws on the specific cases of the alleged victims of those incidents. The specifics pertaining to Sewell Setzer III are detailed in Incident 826, although the initial reporting focuses on his interactions with a chatbot modeled after a Game of Thrones character and not a therapist. Similarly, the teenager known as J.F. is discussed in Incident 863. For this incident ID, reporting on the specific harm events that may arise as a result of interactions with AI-powered chatbots performing as therapists will be tracked.
Entités
Voir toutes les entitésAlleged: Character.AI developed and deployed an AI system, which harmed Sewell Setzer III et J.F. (Texas teenager).
Systèmes d'IA présumés impliqués: Character.AI
Statistiques d'incidents
ID
951
Nombre de rapports
1
Date de l'incident
2025-02-24
Editeurs
Daniel Atherton
Rapports d'incidents
Chronologie du rapport
The nation’s largest association of psychologists this month warned federal regulators that A.I. chatbots “masquerading” as therapists, but programmed to reinforce, rather than to challenge, a user’s thinking, could drive vulnerable people …
Variantes
Une "Variante" est un incident qui partage les mêmes facteurs de causalité, produit des dommages similaires et implique les mêmes systèmes intelligents qu'un incident d'IA connu. Plutôt que d'indexer les variantes comme des incidents entièrement distincts, nous listons les variations d'incidents sous le premier incident similaire soumis à la base de données. Contrairement aux autres types de soumission à la base de données des incidents, les variantes ne sont pas tenues d'avoir des rapports en preuve externes à la base de données des incidents. En savoir plus sur le document de recherche.
