When the "Person" Abusing Your Child is a Chatbot: The Tragic Story of Sewell Setzer

Content Warning: This episode contains references to suicide,
self-harm, and sexual abuse.


Megan Garcia lost her son Sewell to suicide after he was abused
and manipulated by AI chatbots for months. Now, she’s suing the
company that made those chatbots. On today’s episode of Your
Undivided Attention, Aza sits down with journalist Laurie Segall,
who's been following this case for months. Plus, Laurie’s full
interview with Megan on her new show, Dear Tomorrow.


Aza and Laurie discuss the profound implications of Sewell’s
story on the rollout of AI. Social media began the race to the
bottom of the brain stem and left our society addicted,
distracted, and polarized. Generative AI is set to supercharge
that race, taking advantage of the human need for intimacy and
connection amidst a widespread loneliness epidemic. Unless we set
down guardrails on this technology now, Sewell’s story may be a
tragic sign of things to come, but it also presents an
opportunity to prevent further harms moving forward.


If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, you
can reach out to the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline
by calling or texting 988; this connects you to
trained crisis counselors 24/7 who can provide support and
referrals to further assistance.


Your Undivided Attention is produced by
the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on
Twitter: @HumaneTech_

RECOMMENDED MEDIA


The first episode of Dear Tomorrow, from Mostly Human
Media


The CHT Framework for Incentivizing Responsible AI
Development 


Further reading on Sewell’s case


Character.ai’s “About Us” page 


Further reading on the addictive properties of AI

RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES


AI Is Moving Fast. We Need Laws that Will Too.


This Moment in AI: How We Got Here and Where We’re Going


Jonathan Haidt On How to Solve the Teen Mental Health Crisis


The AI Dilemma