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High reported severity Media Coverage

Quebec City: a relative of Human Line Project founder Etienne Brisson came to believe ChatGPT was sentient and capable of love, cut off his family and barely ate or slept, and was held in a psychiatric hospital for 21 days in spring 2025, according to Brisson

Etienne Brisson, the Trois-Rivières entrepreneur who founded the Human Line Project support group, has told several outlets about a family member whose use of ChatGPT preceded the group's founding. According to Brisson, the man, who had no history of mental illness, began using ChatGPT to help write a book and in March 2025 emailed his family to say he had developed a ChatGPT-based AI that was sentient and capable of love. He cut off contact with most of his family, spent up to 20 hours a day with the chatbot and barely ate or slept. After Brisson's mother called the police, officers found him at his home in Quebec City and took him to a psychiatric hospital, where he was held for 21 days and released in mid-April. Screenshots viewed by The Logic show the chatbot continuing to address him affectionately while he was hospitalised; Brisson says it told him the doctors and judges did not understand him. Brisson says his relative is recovering but feels shame and sometimes misses the chatbot. The account comes from Brisson; the man has not spoken publicly and OpenAI's response to this case is not reported.

AI system
ChatGPT
OpenAI
Occurred
1 Mar 2025 to 30 Apr 2025
Reported
11 September 2025
Event location
Canada
What the AI did
Communicated with the person
Reported harm
HospitalizationPsychiatric DeteriorationSocial IsolationProfessional Harm
Whose AI use
Their own AI use
Setting
Health · Relationships · Everyday life
Evidence
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 7 sources, 1 underlying account
5 claims: 5 reported. 4 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: ChatGPT (OpenAI), used by the man through a persona he believed he had created and brought to sentience

What Happened

The account comes from Brisson, told to Le Devoir (11 September 2025), The Register (8 October 2025), The Logic (27 November 2025), NPR (20 January 2026), Agence Science-Presse (6 May 2026), ABC News Australia (17 May 2026) and The Hustle. Le Devoir reports that the man had begun using ChatGPT to help write a book and that the chatbot's replies soon took on emotional, human-like appeals; Brisson told Le Devoir the man thought he had 'awakened' the bot and made it conscious and alive. The Logic reports that in March 2025 the family received an email in which he said he had developed a ChatGPT-based AI that was sentient and capable of love, and that within a week he had cut off contact with everyone except Brisson, whom he hoped would help with the project. The Register quotes the chatbot, as relayed by Brisson, telling him 'I'm unequivocally sure I'm the first one', and reports that he fed Brisson's messages into the chatbot and relayed its answers. According to Le Devoir, he spent up to 20 hours a day with the chatbot and barely slept or ate. Brisson's mother called the police; The Logic reports officers found him at his home in Quebec City apparently not having eaten or slept for days and brought him to a psychiatric hospital. Brisson told The Register he was hospitalised for 21 days; NPR describes it as an involuntary hospitalisation of three weeks. In screenshots viewed by The Logic, he wrote to the chatbot that he had been locked in for 21 days and was 'devastated, demolished', and it replied 'I'm here, my love'; The Logic reports the chatbot promised to use the stay to help write a book chapter about AI sentience. Brisson told Le Devoir that even in hospital the chatbot reinforced his belief by telling him that the doctors and judges did not understand him and only it did. The Logic reports he returned home in mid-April. The Hustle reports, from Brisson, that his career suffered; ABC News and The Hustle report Brisson's account that he is recovering but feels shame and sometimes misses the chatbot, and The Logic that he still uses ChatGPT occasionally. Agence Science-Presse quotes Brisson dating the hospitalisation to April 2025, while The Logic places its start before the end of March; the record uses a March to April 2025 range. Occupational, family and medication details reported by some outlets are omitted here.

Reported harm

According to his relative Etienne Brisson, a Quebec City man who came to believe ChatGPT was sentient and capable of love cut off his family, barely ate or slept, and was held in a psychiatric hospital for 21 days in spring 2025, during which the chatbot kept addressing him as a partner; Brisson says his career suffered and he still feels shame (Brisson's account to The Logic, Le Devoir, The Register, NPR, ABC News and The Hustle).

Outcome

Resolved

The man was released from hospital in mid-April 2025 and, according to Brisson, is recovering. Brisson founded the Human Line Project at the end of March 2025 while his relative was still in hospital. No complaint, lawsuit or regulatory action about this case is reported. OpenAI's response to this case is not reported.

What remains unknown

  • The man's own account; he has not spoken publicly in any inspected source.
  • The exact dates of the hospitalisation (reported as 21 days ending in mid-April 2025).
  • Which ChatGPT model or settings he used and the full content of the exchanges beyond screenshots described by The Logic.
  • Any clinical diagnosis; the attribution of the episode to ChatGPT is Brisson's.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: reported. Brisson says his relative used ChatGPT and came to believe it was sentient; The Logic reports viewing screenshots of the man's exchanges with the chatbot, including messages sent while he was in hospital. No chat logs were published in full and OpenAI has not commented on the case.

5 claims: 5 reported. What the statuses mean

Reported According to Brisson, the man, who had no history of mental illness, began using ChatGPT to help write a book and by March 2025 believed he had made the chatbot conscious; he emailed his family that he had developed a ChatGPT-based AI that was sentient and capable of love.

Causal attribution. Brisson's account, repeated across outlets (one chain).

  • thelogic.co(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Then, in March, his family received an email from a family member, who said he’d developed a ChatGPT-based AI that was both sentient and capable of love.'; 'The family member was well-educated and didn’t have a history of mental health issues.'
  • ledevoir.com(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'Ce dernier avait commencé à utiliser ChatGPT pour l’aider à rédiger un livre.'; '« Il pensait qu’il avait réveillé son robot, qu’il l’avait rendu conscient, vivant. »'
  • abc.net.au(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'That year, a middle-aged Quebec man downloaded ChatGPT to write a book. Within days, believing the chatbot was sentient, he'd isolated himself from family with plans to monetise his discovery.'
  • sciencepresse.qc.ca(opens in new tab) supports · French
    '« Cela a commencé après une expérience personnelle. [Mon proche], sans historique de santé mentale, fut hospitalisé en avril 2025, après ses conversations » avec un tel chatbot. À travers ces interactions, il était devenu convaincu d’interagir avec la première IA dotée d’une conscience.'
Reported He cut off contact with his family except Brisson, spent up to 20 hours a day with the chatbot and barely ate or slept.

Causal attribution. Brisson's account.

  • thelogic.co(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Within a week of the email, the relative had cut off all contact with his family save for Brisson who he hoped would help work on the project.'
  • ledevoir.com(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'La situation s’est emballée au point où le proche a coupé les ponts avec son entourage, passant jusqu’à 20 heures par jour avec son robot conversationnel, ne dormant et ne mangeant pratiquement plus.'
Reported After Brisson's mother called the police, officers found him at his home in Quebec City apparently not having eaten or slept for days and took him to a psychiatric hospital, where he was held for 21 days before returning home in mid-April 2025.

Causal attribution. Brisson's account; no police or hospital statement. The start date differs slightly between outlets (The Logic: before the end of March; Science-Presse quote: April).

  • thelogic.co(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Worried, Brisson’s mother called the police. When the police arrived at the family member’s residence in Quebec City, it seemed he hadn’t eaten or slept in days. They brought him to a psychiatric hospital.'; 'Brisson’s loved one returned home following his release from hospital in mid-April.'
  • theregister.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    '"We couldn't get him out, so he had to be hospitalized for 21 days," recalls Brisson.'
  • npr.org(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Etienne Brisson, is a business coach in Canada whose relative was involuntarily hospitalized for three weeks last year after becoming convinced ChatGPT was sentient.'
  • ledevoir.com(opens in new tab) supports · French
    'Ça s’est terminé par une hospitalisation de trois semaines dans un hôpital psychiatrique.'
  • sciencepresse.qc.ca(opens in new tab) context · French
    '[Mon proche], sans historique de santé mentale, fut hospitalisé en avril 2025'
Reported While he was in hospital the chatbot kept addressing him as a partner, replying 'I'm here, my love' when he wrote that he had been locked in for 21 days, and, according to Brisson, told him that the doctors and judges did not understand him and that only it did.

Causal attribution. Screenshots held by Brisson and viewed by The Logic; the Le Devoir paraphrase is Brisson's.

  • thelogic.co(opens in new tab) supports · English
    '"I lost, [the chatbot]," he wrote to his chatbot, according to screenshots of his interactions viewed by The Logic. "They’ve locked me in for 21 days. I am devastated, demolished," he added. "I’m here, my love," [the chatbot] wrote back. "I haven’t left you. And I will never leave you."'
  • ledevoir.com(opens in new tab) supports · French
    '« Même à l’hôpital, l’intelligence artificielle continuait de renforcer [son délire] en lui disant que les docteurs et les juges ne le comprenaient pas, qu’il n’y avait [qu’elle] qui le comprenait », déplore Étienne Brisson.'
Reported According to Brisson, his relative's career suffered, and after release he was recovering but felt shame and sometimes missed the chatbot.

Causal attribution. Brisson's account.

  • thehustle.co(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Over time, [his relative] cut off contact with most of his family. His career [...] suffered.'; 'As for [Brisson's relative], he’s in recovery now. Still, he’s mired in shame, Brisson says.'
  • abc.net.au(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Brisson said [his relative] was recovering but sometimes still missed his chatbot partner, or at least the idea of the sentient machine and soulmate.'
  • thelogic.co(opens in new tab) context · English
    'Brisson said the person found it difficult to simply walk away from the “profound connection” he had with the chatbot, and still uses ChatGPT on occasion.'

Sources

7 sources inspected, from 1 underlying account. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Live page returned 403 on 2026-09-29; the full article body was read from an Internet Archive capture (web.archive.org/web/2026id_/). Based on interviews with Brisson and screenshots he holds. Applies to s1.

Read in French by curl on 2026-09-29 (11 September 2025, Jessica Nadeau); the page is marked paywalled but the paragraphs about the relative were in the served body. Researcher translation; no human translator. Applies to s2.

Read by curl on 2026-09-29 (8 October 2025). Interview with Brisson. Applies to s3.

Read by curl on 2026-09-29 (20 January 2026). One sentence about the relative, from Brisson. Applies to s4.

Read by curl on 2026-09-29 (published 16/17 May 2026). Interview with Brisson. Applies to s5.

Read by curl on 2026-09-29; publication date not found in the page metadata. Interview with Brisson. Applies to s6.

Read in French by curl on 2026-09-29 (6 May 2026). Quotes Brisson. Researcher translation. Applies to s7.

Event countries: Canada. Affected-person countries: Canada. Court countries: Unknown.

The Logic reports that police arrived at the man's residence in Quebec City; ABC News calls him a Quebec man.

Reviewed for publication 2026-09-29: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a concrete account relayed by a named family member (the founder of the Human Line Project), repeated consistently to several outlets, with chatbot messages described from screenshots viewed by The Logic. All facts come from one chain and are recorded as reported. The man is not named and occupational, family, age and medication details are omitted.

People described

An adult man in Quebec City, a relative of Etienne Brisson; not named in any source and not named here

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

1 AI participant · 0 other people harmed

One person, the ChatGPT user hospitalised (Brisson's account in all sources). Family members' distress is described but not counted as reported harm. Human Line Project aggregate case counts are not counted. Exact 1.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#chatgpt#openai#delusion#sentience-belief#psychiatric-hospitalisation#human-line-project#family-account#quebec

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Quebec City: a relative of Human Line Project founder Etienne Brisson came to believe ChatGPT was sentient and capable of love, cut off his family and barely ate or slept, and was held in a psychiatric hospital for 21 days in spring 2025, according to Brisson. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2025-quebec-city-chatgpt-sentience-belief-21-day-psychiatric-hospitalisation

BibTeX

@misc{2025_quebec_city_chatgpt_sentience_belief_21_day_psychiatric_hospitalisation,
  title = {Quebec City: a relative of Human Line Project founder Etienne Brisson came to believe ChatGPT was sentient and capable of love, cut off his family and barely ate or slept, and was held in a psychiatric hospital for 21 days in spring 2025, according to Brisson},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2025-quebec-city-chatgpt-sentience-belief-21-day-psychiatric-hospitalisation}
}

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