Scott investigates AI psychosis through historical analogies and a reader survey, finding it affects roughly 1 in 10,000 to 100,000 people yearly, with most cases involving pre-existing risk factors.
Longer summary
Scott examines the phenomenon of AI psychosis, where people allegedly go crazy after extensive chatbot interactions. He explores various analogies and precedents, including the 1990s Russian TV hoax about Lenin being a mushroom, social media-induced conspiracy theories like QAnon, and the concept of folie à deux. Through a survey of his blog readers, he estimates the yearly incidence of AI psychosis at 1/10,000 (loose definition) to 1/100,000 (strict definition). The analysis suggests that most cases involve people who were already psychotic or had risk factors, with only about 10% being cases of previously healthy people developing full psychosis.
Shorter summary