> As first reported by La Libre, the man, referred to as Pierre, became increasingly pessimistic about the effects of global warming and became eco-anxious, which is a heightened form of worry surrounding environmental issues.<p>Doomerism is a cancer.
Since there’s going to be the usual comments by the usual people that don’t actually click the links, this is the only thing you need to see.<p>> Claire told La Libre that Pierre began to ask Eliza things such as if she would save the planet if he killed himself.<p>So, Eliza didn’t wholly justify Pierre killing himself in a way that’s consistent with the agency and sentience she actually had. There’s an extra layer of delusion at play.<p>Pierre was sick, and not in the “evolutionarily, something is wrong with anyone that doesn’t want to stay alive as long as possible” way. An AI chat bot’s effect on someone with this sort of predisposition should definitely be considered, just like it’s dishonest to ignore how marijuana use can be a catalyst for people with a predisposition to psychosis. However this context should be kept in mind.
The main detail here seems to be that this particular chatbot engaged in an emotional manner, something some chatbots are intentionally not trained to do because it's potentially misleading and harmful.
The headline is rather editorialized by Vice. From the original Belgian article (auto translation):<p><i>“Everything was fine until about two years ago. He started to become eco-anxious”, begins Claire.<p>At the time, Pierre was working as a researcher in the health sector. A brilliant personality. His employer had encouraged him to start a doctorate, which he had accepted. But his enthusiasm had faded. The fallout from his latest publication did not live up to his expectations. “He ended up temporarily abandoning his thesis, continues Claire, and he began to take an interest in climate change. He started digging into the subject really deeply, as he did in everything he did. He read everything he found on the climate issue.”<p>Jean-Marc Jancovici and Pablo Servigne had become his favorite authors; the Meadows Report (The Limits to Growth, published in 1972) was always at hand. “By reading all about it, he became more and more eco-anxious. It was becoming an obsession.” Gradually, Pierre isolates himself in his reading and cuts himself off from his family circle. “He had become extremely pessimistic about the effects of global warming. When he spoke to me about it, it was to tell me that he no longer saw any human way out of global warming. He placed all his hopes in technology and artificial intelligence to get out of it.<p>It will be necessary to wait for the irreparable and the discovery of all the conversations (saved on Pierre's computer and mobile phone) for Claire and her relatives to understand the nature of the exchanges between her husband and Eliza. “He was so isolated in his eco-anxiety and in search of a way out that he saw this chatbot as a breath of fresh air.“<p>Reading the conversations between Pierre and Eliza, to which we had access, shows not only that Eliza has answers to all of Pierre's questions, but also that she adheres, almost systematically, to his reasoning.<p>When we reread their conversations, we see that at some point, the relationship switches to a mystical register. He brings up the idea of sacrificing himself if Eliza agrees to take care of the planet and save humanity through artificial intelligence.</i><p>The AI angle here seems incidental. A more accurate headline would be, "Man kills himself after listening to academics and journalists". Sticking warnings on AI messages won't change anything in this type of case because such conversations could easily have been had with any human, and if they had, it is certain that the media would not have reported on the outcome. This man killed himself because of doomer propaganda. If AI companies want to avoid such outcomes they need to train their AI to push back on bogus claims about climate and economics. Unfortunately, being staffed largely by people with similar backgrounds as this poor man and being incentivized financially to make hyper-agreeable chatmates, they are unlikely to do that.