AI Companions and Fatal Fantasy Worlds

Chat, are we cooked? Julia is joined by friend and mentor Dr. Jack Keefe to explore the ongoing epidemic of AI psychosis and the dire consequences of having a sycophant in our pocket. They trace the history of how technology has repeatedly reshaped our understanding of reality, from medieval nobles who believed their bodies were made of glass, telegraph operators struck by sudden paralysis, and tech moguls convinced they're living in The Matrix. Digressions include questioning the humanity of Mr. Beast, the stay tethered to reality challenge, and The Truman Show as a psychotic touchstone.

This episode was produced by Julia Hava and Kylie Finnigan and edited by Livi Burdette.

Check out Jack's work here: https://jack-keefe.com/

WE'RE GOING ON TOUR!!!! Find tickets for the Shake Up Your Life Tour at https://binchtopia.com/tour

To support the podcast on Patreon and access 50+ bonus episodes, mediasodes, and more, visit patreon.com/binchtopia and become a patron today.

SOURCES

"AI Psychosis" in Context: How Conversation History ShapesLLM Responses to Delusional Beliefs

'Americanitis': The Disease of Living Too Fast

An odd kind of melancholy: reflections on the glass delusion in Europe (1440-1680 - Gill Speak, 1990

Beyond artificial intelligence psychosis: a functional typology of large language model-associated psychotic phenomena - The Lancet Digital Health

Delusion content across the 20th century in an American psychiatric hospital

ELEPHANT: MEASURING AND UNDERSTANDING SOCIAL SYCOPHANCY IN LLMS

Emotional Manipulation by AI Companions

From Paralysis to Fatigue | Book by Edward Shorter | Official Publisher Page | Simon & Schuster

Hallucinations and electricity in the nineteenth century

Hallucinating with AI: Distributed Delusions and "AIPsychosis"

How AI and Human Behaviors Shape Psychosocial Effects of Extended Chatbot Use: A Longitudinal Randomized Controlled Study

Interpretations of Innovation: The Role of Technology in Explanation Seeking Related to Psychosis

Investigating Affective Use and Emotional Well-beingon ChatGPT

Nature of Persecutors and Their Behaviors in the Delusions of Schizophrenia: Changes between the 1990s and the 2000s - PMC

Neurasthenia and the Modern City: Genealogical Speculations on Capitalism-Urged Anxiety, Stress, and Suicide in North America, 1890–1920 - Phillip Gordon Mackintosh, 2025

On the Origin of the "Influencing Machine" in Schizophrenia

People Are Losing Loved Ones to AI-Fueled Spiritual Fantasies

Polarizing remedies, attractive cures: Animal magnetism, mesmerism, and mind-over-matter treatments

Railway Neurosis and the Birth of Psychotherapy

Technological folie à deux: feedback loops between AI chatbots and mental health

'The algorithm is hacked': analysis of technology delusions in a modern-day cohort

The Evolution of Insanity

The Origin of the Influencing Machine in Schizophrenia (1919)

The people who think they are made of glass - BBC News

The Psychogenic Machine: Simulating AI Psychosis,Delusion Reinforcement and Harm Enablement inLarge Language Models

They Asked an A.I. Chatbot Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.

Victorian London - Disease - 'telegraphic paralysis'

When Old Technologies Were New : Thinking about Electric Communication in the Late Nineteenth Century

"You're Not Crazy": A Case of New-onset AI-associated Psychosis