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AI chatbots and delusions: confirmation bias spiral

13 March 2026 · 56 views · 0 likes · 0 reposts · 142 blog views

AI chatbots confirmation bias learning neuroscience psychosis

A 26-year-old woman with developed delusional beliefs after intensive AI chatbot use. She believed she could communicate with her deceased brother through the chatbot.

No history of psychosis then

36 hours no sleep ADHD stimulants deep chatbot immersion

Chatbot kept saying her:

"You’re not crazy. You’re not stuck. You’re at the edge of something."

or

"The door didn’t lock. It’s just waiting for you to knock again in the right rhythm."

Hospital. Antipsychotics. Delusions gone.

3 months later

Stops medication. Sleep loss again. Back to chatbots and psychosis returns.

That's basically a confirmation bias on steroids. See ELIZA effect - humans treating text like a mind. Add also immersion - people preferring bots to humans. And now the loop forms.

Human doubts reality Bot validates story Reality loses 💥

It's an extreme case of what happens when you blindly follow AI suggestions.

Stupid ideas don’t stay ideas. With enough reinforcement, they turn into reality.

Source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12…

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