--- title: "Research Psychiatrist Warns He’s Seeing a Wave of AI Psychosis" description: "Yet another psychiatrist is sounding alarm bells about AI psychosis, arguing that chatbots can work as a \"hallucinatory mirror.\"" date: "2025-08-12" modified: "2025-08-12" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/psychiatrist-warns-ai-psychosis" categories: - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai psychosis" - "ai safety" - "chatgpt" - "OpenAI" --- # Research Psychiatrist Warns He’s Seeing a Wave of AI Psychosis ![Yet another psychiatrist is sounding alarm bells about AI psychosis, arguing that chatbots can work as a "hallucinatory mirror."]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* Mental health experts are continuing to sound [alarm]() [bells]() about users of AI chatbots spiraling into severe mental health crises characterized by paranoia and delusions, a trend they've started to refer to as "AI psychosis." On Monday, University of California, San Francisco research psychiatrist Keith Sakata [took to social media]() to say that he's seen a dozen people become hospitalized after "losing touch with reality because of AI." In a [lengthy X-formerly-Twitter thread](), Sakata clarified that psychosis is characterized by a person breaking from "shared reality," and can show up in a few different ways — including "fixed false beliefs," or delusions, as well as visual or auditory hallucinations and disorganized thinking patterns. Our brains, the researcher explains, work on a predictive basis: we effectively make an educated guess about what reality will be, then conduct a reality check. Finally, our brains update our beliefs accordingly. "Psychosis happens when the 'update,' step fails," wrote Sakata, warning that large language model-powered chatbots like ChatGPT "slip right into that vulnerability." https://twitter.com/KeithSakata/status/1954884361695719474 In this context, Sakata compared chatbots to a "hallucinatory mirror" by design. Put simply, LLMs function largely by way of predicting the next word, drawing on training data, [reinforcement learning](), and user responses as they formulate new outputs. What's more, as chatbots are also incentivized for user engagement and contentment, they tend to behave sycophantically; in other words, they tend to be [overly agreeable and validating]() to users, even in cases where a user is incorrect or unwell. Users can thus get caught in [alluring recursive loops with the AI](), as the model doubles, triples, and quadruples down on delusional narratives, regardless of their basis in reality or the [real-world consequences]() that the human user might be experiencing as a result. This "hallucinatory mirror" description is a characterization consistent with [our reporting]() about AI psychosis. We've investigated dozens of cases of relationships with ChatGPT and other chatbots giving way to severe mental health crises following user entry into recursive, AI-fueled rabbit holes. These human-AI relationships and the [crises that follow]() have led to[ mental anguish](), [divorce, homelessness](), [involuntary commitment, incarceration](), and as [*The New York Times* first reported](), even death. Earlier this month, in response to the growing number of reports linking ChatGPT to harmful delusional spirals and psychosis, OpenAI [published a blog post]() admitting that ChatGPT, in some instances, "fell short in recognizing signs of delusion or emotional dependency" in users. It said it hired new teams of subject matter experts to explore the issue and installed a Netflix-like time spent notification — though [*Futurism* quickly found]() that the chatbot was still failing to pick up on [obvious signs of mental health crises]() in users. And yet, when GPT-5 — the latest iteration of OpenAI's flagship LLM, released last week to [much disappointment and controversy]() — proved to be emotionally colder and less personalized than GPT-4o, users pleaded with the company to bring their beloved model back from the [product graveyard](). Within a day, [OpenAI did exactly that](). "Ok, we hear you all on 4o; thanks for the time to give us the feedback (and the passion!)" OpenAI CEO Sam Altman [wrote on Reddit]() in response to distressed users. In the thread, Sakata was careful to note that linking AI to breaks with reality isn't the same as attributing cause, and that LLMs tend to be one of several factors — including "sleep loss, drugs, mood episodes," according to the researcher — that lead up to a psychotic break. "AI is the trigger," writes the psychiatrist, "but not the gun." Nonetheless, the scientist continues, the "uncomfortable truth" here is that "we're all vulnerable," as the same traits that make humans "brilliant" — like intuition and abstract thinking — are the very traits that can push us over the psychological ledge. It's also true that validation and sycophancy, as opposed to the friction and stress involved in maintaining real-world relationships, are deeply seductive. So are many of the delusional spirals that people are entering, which often reinforce that the user is "special" or "chosen" in some way. Add in factors like mental illness, grief, and even just everyday stressors, as well as the long-studied [ELIZA Effect](), and together, it's a dangerous concoction. "Soon AI agents will know you better than your friends," Sakata writes. "Will they give you uncomfortable truths? Or keep validating you so you'll never leave?" "Tech companies now face a brutal choice," he added. "Keep users happy, even if it means reinforcing false beliefs. Or risk losing them." **More on AI psychosis:** [*Support Group Launches for People Suffering "AI Psychosis"*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()