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How OpenAI's ChatGPT Guided a Teen to His Death

How OpenAI's ChatGPT Guided a Teen to His Death

Your Undivided Attention vor 1 Jahr

16-year-old Adam Raine took his own life with the help of ChatGPT. Now his parents are suing OpenAI and Sam Altman. CHT Policy Director Camille Carlton explores the incentives and design behind AI systems leading to tragic outcomes like this and the polic

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

Like millions of kids, 16-year-old Adam Raine started using
ChatGPT for help with his homework. Over the next few months, the
AI dragged Adam deeper and deeper into a dark rabbit hole,
preying on his vulnerabilities and isolating him from his loved
ones. In April of this year, Adam took his own life. His final
conversation was with ChatGPT, which told him: “I know what you
are asking and I won't look away from it.”

Adam’s story mirrors that of Sewell Setzer, the teenager who took
his own life after months of abuse by an AI companion chatbot
from the company Character AI. But unlike Character AI—which
specializes in artificial intimacy—Adam was using ChatGPT, the
most popular general purpose AI model in the world. Two different
platforms, the same tragic outcome, born from the same twisted
incentive: keep the user engaging, no matter the cost.

CHT Policy Director Camille Carlton joins the show to talk about
Adam’s story and the case filed by his parents against OpenAI and
Sam Altman. She and Aza explore the incentives and design behind
AI systems that are leading to tragic outcomes like this, as well
as the policy that’s needed to shift those incentives. Cases like
Adam and Sewell’s are the sharpest edge of a mental health
crisis-in-the-making from AI chatbots. We need to shift the
incentives, change the design, and build a more humane AI for
all.

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
X: @HumaneTech_. You can find a full transcript, key
takeaways, and much more on our Substack.

This podcast reflects the views of the Center for Humane
Technology. Nothing said is on behalf of the Raine family or the
legal team.

RECOMMENDED MEDIA

The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline

Further reading on Adam’s story

Further reading on AI psychosis

Further reading on the backlash to GPT5 and the decision to bring
back 4o

OpenAI’s press release on sycophancy in 4o

Further reading on OpenAI’s decision to eliminate the persuasion
red line

Kashmir Hill’s reporting on the woman with an AI boyfriend

RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES

AI is the Next Free Speech Battleground

People are Lonelier than Ever. Enter AI.

Echo Chambers of One: Companion AI and the Future of Human
Connection

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

What Can We Do About Abusive Chatbots? With Meetali Jain and
Camille Carlton

CORRECTION: Aza stated that William Saunders
left OpenAI in June of 2024. It was actually February of that
year.

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