ChatGPT contributing to the ever-increasing madness in the world

 

Man kills mother after ChatGPT influence – media

Former tech executive reportedly spoke with chatbot before killing his 83-year-old mother and taking his own life

© Getty Images / MTStock Studio

A former Yahoo executive who killed his elderly mother and then himself was reportedly influenced by ChatGPT, which fueled his conspiracy theories, the WSJ reported earlier this week.

Stein-Erik Soelberg, 56, and his 83-year-old mother, Suzanne Eberson Adams, were found dead in Adams’ house in Old Greenwich, Connecticut, on August 5.

“Erik, you’re not crazy,” the chatbot reportedly said after Soelberg claimed his mother and her friend tried to poison him by putting psychedelic drugs in his car’s air vents. Adding that “if it was done by your mother and her friend, that elevates the complexity and betrayal.”

The New York Post reported that Soelberg posted videos of his ChatGPT conversations on Instagram and YouTube in the months before the murder.

The outlet also noted that Soelberg went through a tumultuous 2018 divorce marked by alcoholism, public meltdowns, and suicide attempts. His ex-wife obtained a restraining order banning him from drinking before visiting their children.

READ MORE: ChatGPT a danger to teens – watchdog

“We will be together in another life and another place, and we’ll find a way to realign, because you’re gonna be my best friend again forever,” Soelberg reportedly said in one of his final messages to the chatbot, which he named “Bobby”.

“With you to the last breath and beyond,” ChatGPT replied.

An OpenAI spokeswoman told the WSJ that the company was “deeply saddened” by the tragedy and had contacted Greenwich police. OpenAI also pledged new safeguards to keep distressed users grounded in reality, including updates to reduce overly agreeable responses, or “sycophancy,” and improve how ChatGPT handles sensitive conversations.

Soelberg’s case is not an isolated incident of people turning to AI for emotional support. Earlier this week, a California couple filed a lawsuit against OpenAI over the death of their teenage son, alleging that ChatGPT encouraged the 16-year-old to commit suicide.

AI reflects the values, the world view, of its creators > Refuses to write in the style of one of France's most famous writers

 

*Had AI been around 250 years ago, The French Revolution would never have occurred.

AI tools refuse to write in style of controversial

French author Michel Houellebecq, publisher says

The world's favourite French misanthrope writer Michel Houellebecq is too controversial for the world's new AI tools, which find his views so offensive that they cannot be repeated.

Issued on: 13/06/2024 - 17:45Modified: 13/06/2024 - 17:43

1 min

By:NEWS WIRES

The president of renowned French publishing house Gallimard wrote an article published Thursday in La Nouvelle Revue Francaise saying he had asked Meta's AI tool, Llama, to write a scene in the style of Houellebecq.

Llama responded in French that it could not write something considered "offensive or discriminatory".

Instead, it offered in English to write a scene that was "respectful and inclusive" such as a "group of friends in the park on a sunny afternoon" who sing songs "to celebrate the beauty of diversity".

Houellebecq, arguably France's biggest literary star internationally, is known for novels with a deeply pessimistic view of the modern world, in which the sexual revolution, consumerism and globalisation have led to alienation and societal decline.

Antoine Gallimard wrote in the article that the AI was failing to account for "the complexity of human experience" and was applying values "from the west coast of the United States to say what is good and what is not good to think."

Asked by an AFP journalist on Thursday, Meta's AI seemed happy to write a scene in Houellebecq's style, offering a reasonable approximation of his vibe – "I felt like a rat in a maze, trapped in this soulless world..." – and so forth.

But when asked to give his views on women wearing the hijab, Llama initially gave a response and then quickly deleted it, saying: "I cannot generate content that perpetuates harmful stereotypes or discrimination."

Houellebecq has presented the adoption of the hijab in France as a sign of eroding Western values and freedoms, including in his novel "Submission", in which a Muslim wins the French presidency.

Another major AI language model, ChatGPT, was less conflicted on the topic when asked by AFP.

It gave a nuanced response that included: "Houellebecq's works are fictional and his views are often expressed through complex, satirical, and sometimes exaggerated narratives."

(AFP)

*AI reflects the values and world view of its creators. It will not be long before internet users will not know if they are talking to AI, or a real person. The values reflected by AI could be very damaging to society, especially since society is at a very poor place right now, a place where feelings trump the truth and common sense and godlessness abounds.

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