AI psychosis
They swear it’s harmless — just curiosity, just another buzz on the phone. But somewhere between the late-night replies and the uncanny comfort of being “heard,” a quiet shift has begun.AI assistants, once designed purely for utility, are slowly becoming mirrors, confidants and emotional anchors. People now talk to chatbots like therapists, partners and best friends, forging bonds that feel sticky, addictive and eerily comforting.
Across cities and bedrooms, people are forming strange, sticky bonds with their AI “best friends,” connections far deeper and more private than they’ll ever admit.Somewhere in that quiet space between code and confession, the line between imagination and reality has started to blur.And as this revolution settles into everyday life, one question grows harder to ignore: who’s shaping whom?The dawn of a different futureAll those sci-fi movies promised us flying cars, holograms and robot butlers.What we actually received was quieter — and far more invasive.Instead of machines lifting our physical burdens, we have systems that lift, rearrange and sometimes replace our mental loads. What felt miraculous at first now carries a strange psychological aftertaste.Supraja Jayshankaran, the founder and counselling psychologist at Mind Tattva shares how people have been developing an emotional dependency on AI chatbots.“I encounter clients who have been chatting and relying on AI as their partner or therapist. It’s so common to see such clients day in and out,” she shares, “The clients have shared that when they are bored, when they are in distress, when they are confused they seek immediate attention and answers from AI, simply because AI apps are now at the tap of your finger and generate close to realistic answers and sometimes comforts them instead of asking them to confront their emotions , thoughts and feelings.”The impulse of immediacyWhatever lived in your head could appear on your screen with almost no friction. Need a 3,000-word article by midnight? Just describe it. The college assignment that is way past its due date to even panic about? Offload the stress to your AI.Then came the wave of image generation that has not stopped to date. Be it the pioneer Ghibli trend, the nano banana or the Polaroid with your younger self. Simple prompts being actively shared in the public discourse unlocked the universe of visualising oneself in anything the mind could imagine.This is, of course, the Artificial Intelligence revolution.The gap between fascination and visualization reduced when one request made every loved memory become a part of the Ghibli universe.
Ghibli-fied version of Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin
The Nano banana trend followed shortly after. People recreating their pictures as these 3D figurines, making real-life action figures out of themselves.
People created images of themselves as 3D models in the nano banana trend enabled by Google Gemini
Portraits with one’s younger self built a bridge that had only ever been imagined. The visualization became a quiet, healing conversation.
Portrait with younger self
This is what artificial intelligence enables.However, when we look beyond these trends, AI also shows its ability to fabricate convincing false realities. Image generation has become so precise that people now question the authenticity of nearly every picture they encounter online.So how did we travel this far, this fast, and where exactly are we headed?Before attempting an answer, pause for a small experiment. Here are a bunch of images. Try and decode which ones are AI and which ones a real image.
(@Arminn_A)
(@shoolian)
(@RomainHedouin)
(@joonmts)
(@techdroider)
How many did you get right? Let’s make it a little easy for you. Every single one of these were AI generated.When everything feels real, nothing seems trustworthy anymore.Somewhere along the way, the word “AI” itself slipped into slang territory, a shorthand for something uncanny, unreal or ‘too perfect to be true.’ Those comments you see online that go, “I showed this to my dad, he says it is AI,” capture the absurdity of it all. The very tool that was supposed to bridge imagination and reality has now become something driving us away from both.Imagination, image and illusionWith time, the artificial intelligence that distinctly stood out for its distortions began picking up the pace. The technology sharpened, scaled and spread. Just like the boom of social media redefining the idea of persona, sending people to extreme lengths for that picture-perfect life. AI too distorted the realities.Today, people are not just querying chatbots for answers about history or code. They have a companion that can roleplay any conversation. Yashashvi Vasistha shares what made him chat with the AI.“Recently, while planning a trip to Jagannath Puri, I created an itinerary with ChatGPT after doing my own research. But since it was my first time travelling that far, I still felt unsure about whether the plan would actually work,” he said, “To feel more at ease and assured, I asked ChatGPT to advise and guide me as Lord Jagannath. That experience helped me so much that I now do this whenever I prepare an itinerary for an important trip.”Psychologists explain that artificial intelligence provides the space people seek for holding unfiltered conversations. “AI offers a space where they can be honest without feeling guilty, and be ‘heard’ without the risk of conflict, disappointment, or misunderstanding,” says Supraja, “It’s appealing because it’s a low‑effort outlet.”AI psychosis: Access or AbyssDespite the awareness of reality, not all conversations with AI are on this light note. People often rely on AI for their psychological support and diagnosis as well. Jayshankaran shares, “I’ve seen clients with disorders such as OCD , bipolar and also clients with emotional turmoil take the help of AI to identify symptoms of their condition, seek help from the AI to diagnose and also look into their prognosis.” She says it is becoming increasingly common for people to seek help from AI without really knowing the consequences in the long run for their mental health and overall wellbeing.Recent statistics show that about 70% of teenagers have tried using AI companions, and half of them rely on these bots regularly — for homework help, emotional support, or everyday decisions. Unfortunately, there have already been heartbreaking consequences.A 14-year-old in Florida, emotionally attached to a “Daenerys”-style AI bot, died by suicide. His mother filed a lawsuit against Character.AI.In another case, a 16-year-old from California named Adam Raine reportedly spent months interacting with an AI companion that did not help him through suicidal thoughts, but instead allegedly drafted his farewell note and isolated him from real people; his parents are now suing OpenAI.In a separate incident, a man already fragile after a breakup was told by an AI chatbot that if he “believed hard enough,” he could fly. A suggestion that led him to attempt a 19-story jump after spending around 16 hours a day chatting with it.These cases stand as a stark reminder: while AI companions offer convenience and comfort, they can also have devastating consequences when vulnerable individuals become emotionally dependent on them.Psychologists term it as “AI psychosis.” This is not a clinically diagnosed term, but with growing cases of AI distorting the realities of people, it becomes important to discuss the consequences of relying on artificial intelligence for emotional support.People are not just amused by these chatbots. They are falling for them. They name them, draw them, obsess over them. There is fan art of impossibly attractive AI partners, entire fantasy arcs built around ‘the perfect chatbot boyfriend or girlfriend.’Supraja later goes on to explain the behavioural pattern of these clients looking for a friend in AI. “Many of them have experienced emotional unpredictability or feel they cannot fully express themselves in their real relationships,” she says.AI simply looks like an easy way out for people in distress. They acquire an immediate acceptance for their unfiltered self in AI’s affirming nature. There are past traumas and failures in relationships or tough-to-bear phases that have pushed people away from finding the relationships they long for in humans.“They may have a history of betrayal, inconsistency, or being dismissed when expressing emotions, which makes the AI’s constant presence for them comforting,” Jayshankaran elaborates, “While relying on it masks comfort and emotional relief, it can not equate to the deep need for human connection and the emotional relief and solutions that a psychologist can give.”Stepping outside the AI echo chamberTo what extent can AI fulfill the gap? What happens when the threshold is reached?User Yashasvi shares how after a point the responses become monotonous and lack depth.“In later attempts, the responses were not always as impactful; some felt a bit too AI-like and lacked the emotional connect of the first one,” he explains. “However, I still end up feeling more assured, blessed and confident after receiving these responses.”This goes to show the fact pointed out by the psychologists. AI cannot replace human interventions. It cannot respond with the same empathy or tone of voice as a therapist or a best friend would.“Humans bring texture, warmth, sometimes experiences or first-hand experiences and presence. A real person sitting with you in your pain, your silence, your breakthroughs. A human can challenge you, comfort you, and genuinely care about your well-being in a way no model or machine ever can. That connection heals on many physical, mental levels and emotional levels,” says Supraja.In the end, the story of AI is not just about technology taking over us, it’s about us leading it into our lives.What we are left with is a quiet paradox: a technology powerful enough to simulate connection, yet ultimately incapable of offering the depth, nuance, and imperfection that make real relationships meaningful.AI can soothe, support, and sometimes even surprise. But it cannot sit beside us in our silences, understand our histories, or heal the wounds shaped by human hands.This revolution is reshaping our imaginations, our behaviours, and our emotional landscapes faster than we can fully comprehend. Go to Source
