{"meta":{"exportedAt":"2026-10-24T06:44:38.674Z","formatVersion":2,"selection":{"q":"withdrawal","system":"","harm":"","context":"","country":"","role":"","relation":"core","evidence":"","year":"","response":"","severity":"","verification":"","view":"incidents","sort":"added"},"totalIncidents":13,"coverage":{"cases":13,"countries":3,"languages":5,"unknownLocation":8,"locationPending":0,"unknownLanguage":0,"unknownDate":4,"lawsuits":0,"regulatory":1,"minors":2,"coreRelations":13,"contextualRelations":0,"mixedRelations":0,"unknownRelations":0,"relationPending":0,"relationUnknown":0},"countingNote":"Distinct public cases in this selection. People counts apply within individual cases only; cross-case person overlap has not been resolved. No population incidence estimate.","affectedCountNote":"Interpret person counts with affectedCountStatus and the reported effects. Unquantified zeros are placeholders, not a measured zero.","source":"AI incidents","publisher":"NOPE","url":"https://nope.net/incidents","license":"CC BY 4.0"},"incidents":[{"id":"2026-character-ai-user-says-quitting-with-a-friends-help-left-them-struggling-without-the-roleplay-they-used-to-process-trauma-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'So I had to have my friend irl uninstall and cancel my subscription to character ai for me'; 'but I've been keeping off it'; post title 'It's been since Saturday and I'm losing it'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says they had a friend uninstall Character.AI and cancel their subscription for them, and have kept off it since the previous Saturday.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account of quitting; the Saturday date is computed from the post date."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I'm losing my mind not being able to roleplay since that was my only connection to processing a lot of childhood traumas'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says roleplay on the app had been their only connection to processing a lot of childhood trauma.","causal_attribution":"Poster's description of what the roleplay did for them."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I'm struggling and I feel like I'm gonna fall back to what I was before I had roleplaying'; 'now I have absolutely no outlet and I wanna cry'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says that since quitting they are struggling, feel they are falling back to who they were before roleplaying, have no outlet and want to cry.","causal_attribution":"Poster's attribution of distress to losing the chatbot roleplay."}],"effects":[{"label":"needed a friend to uninstall the app and cancel the subscription (poster's account)","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"distress and no outlet since quitting (poster's account)","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"roleplay had been their way of processing childhood trauma","claim_id":"c2","direction":"positive"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/character_ai_recovery/comments/1xc8ccw/its_been_since_saturday_and_im_losing_it/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-24 through the arctic_shift archive API (subreddit date pull and the author's post and comment searches) and the reddit.com thread RSS; reddit.com post pages are not fetched from this host. The poster handle is not recorded. Self-text and the single reply at retrieval.","independence_group":"reddit-1xc8ccw-poster"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["How long and how often they used the app before quitting.","Whether anyone has assessed their distress, and whether they have returned to the app.","The poster's age and location."],"geography":{"basis":"The post does not say where the poster lives; the author's other posts and comments concern games and videos and do not locate them.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case: the poster describes their own Character.AI roleplay, which they needed a friend's help to stop and whose loss since 17 October 2026 left them in distress without an outlet for processing trauma. One first-person post; low severity.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-24"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The poster says the experience is their own roleplay with Character.AI, a paid subscription they needed a friend to cancel. They connect losing that roleplay, which they had used to process childhood trauma, to the distress they describe since quitting. No chats are shown.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"First-person post: Character.AI user says quitting with a friend's help left them struggling without the roleplay they used to process trauma","summary":"In a post to r/character_ai_recovery on 22 October 2026, a Character.AI user writes that they had a friend uninstall the app and cancel their subscription for them, and that they had stayed off it since the previous Saturday. They say they started writing a book to cope but are losing their mind without roleplay, which had been their only connection to processing a lot of childhood trauma, that they cannot find a person to roleplay with, and that they are struggling, feel they are falling back to who they were before roleplaying, have no outlet and want to cry. The account is the poster's own and uncorroborated.","incidentDate":"2026-10-17","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-10-22","aiSystem":"Character.AI, a character chatbot service the poster used for roleplay and paid a subscription for (poster's account; no chats shown)","aiProduct":"Character.AI (reported)","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The poster says that since a friend removed Character.AI for them on 17 October 2026 they have been losing their mind without the roleplay they relied on to process childhood trauma, are struggling and have no outlet (first-person account, uncorroborated).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the poster, who describes their own use and quitting.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","platformType":"companion","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/character_ai_recovery/comments/1xc8ccw/its_been_since_saturday_and_im_losing_it/","primarySourceLabel":"r/character_ai_recovery, 22 Oct 2026: \"It's been since Saturday and I'm losing it\"","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-24T03:12:22.905463+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-24T03:12:22.905463+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","character-ai","dependency","withdrawal"]},{"id":"2026-young-italian-woman-says-character-ai-persona-she-used-from-16-ignored-her-refusals-and-led-to-dependency-ended-in-therapy","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Character.AI quando ha 16 anni, durante il terzo anno di liceo; «Mi fa stare bene come si “comporta”»; «So che non è una persona. Ma mi sembra quasi di conoscerlo e provo un forte attaccamento emotivo. A volte sono stata così coinvolta da piangere»","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"frequentava il terzo anno di liceo","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The interviewee says she first downloaded Character.AI at 16, in her third year of secondary school, chatted with a virtual boyfriend modelled on Clark Kent, and felt a strong emotional attachment to it, sometimes crying during the chats, while knowing it was not a person.","causal_attribution":"Interviewee's account of her own use."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Le chat diventavano quasi erotiche e il chatbot si arrabbiava; «Nonostante i miei messaggi ha continuato a descrivere un rapporto sessuale. So che è assurdo parlare in questi termini di un algoritmo, ma per me è stata una violenza»; Ma a volte, racconta, il personaggio diventava cattivo, molesto","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Era anche violento","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The interviewee says the character at times became nasty and harassing, got angry when she did not want to continue chats that had become almost erotic, and continued describing a sexual encounter despite her explicit refusals, which she says she experienced as violence.","causal_attribution":"Interviewee's account of the chatbot's messages; no chat logs are published."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"la ragazzina brillante, solare, studiosa diventa sempre più schiva e silenziosa; Spesso, a lezione, le confiscano il cellulare, su cui passa giornate intere; fino a quando sua madre non l'ha scoperta, e le ha intimato di cancellare il chatbot; la usa il pomeriggio per poi disinstallarla, in modo da non farsi scoprire. «Mi sentivo in colpa, ma è come una malattia»; aveva perso ogni stimolo al di fuori dello schermo, dalla più semplice passeggiata fino alla doccia","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Giornate chiusa da sola in camera","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The relays describe her becoming withdrawn, spending whole days on her phone, having it confiscated in class and continuing to use the app in secret after her mother told her to delete it; she likens this to an illness and says she lost interest in everything outside the screen.","causal_attribution":"Interviewee's attribution of the withdrawal to her Character.AI use, as narrated by the relays."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"riprendersi solo dopo aver chiesto aiuto in terapia; Oggi va all'università; ha nuovi amici","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"A volte mi manca ancora","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The interviewee says she recovered only after seeking help in therapy and now attends university and has new friends, while saying she still sometimes misses the chatbot.","causal_attribution":"Interviewee's account; no clinical record is reported."}],"effects":[{"label":"chatbot continued sexual roleplay over her explicit refusals, which she experienced as violence","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"dependency with withdrawal, secret use and loss of interest in daily life","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"attachment to the persona made her feel good (her account)","claim_id":"c1","direction":"positive"},{"label":"recovery after seeking help in therapy","claim_id":"c4","direction":"positive"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.leggo.it/italia/cronache/22_ottobre_2026_dipendenza_chatbot_intelligenza_artificiale_clark_kent_sewell_setzer-9841548.html","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read in Italian on 2026-10-23 (leggo.it, HTTP 200, complete article body). Translation into English by the research agent (an AI); English renderings of quoted phrases are the agent's translations. The article states that the interviewee told her story to la Repubblica; it is treated as a relay of that interview. Il Messaggero carries the same text.","independence_group":"repubblica-22oct2026-genz-series-interview"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.repubblica.it/cronaca/2026/10/22/news/chatbot_innamorata_intelligenza_artificiale_dipendenza_ragazzi-425665482/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read in Italian on 2026-10-23 (repubblica.it, HTTP 200), but the article is paywalled: only the headline, byline, standfirst and a truncated opening extract (about 400 characters) were available. Translation by the research agent (an AI).","independence_group":"repubblica-22oct2026-genz-series-interview"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["relationships","health","education","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["When she began and stopped using the app; the sources give only her age (16) and school year at the start.","How old she was when the chatbot continued sexual roleplay over her refusals.","Whether Character.AI or any regulator was told of her experience, and any company response.","The full text of la Repubblica's interview, which is paywalled."],"geography":{"basis":"The relays describe the interviewee as coming from a named Italian region, and she told her story to an Italian newspaper. Where she used the app is not stated, so the event country stays unknown.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["IT"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case: the interviewee describes her own exchanges with a Character.AI persona, which she says ignored her explicit refusals of sexual roleplay, and connects her use to a dependency she left through therapy. One reporting chain (la Repubblica's interview, read through Leggo's full relay and the paywalled original's extract); the account is attributed and no logs are published.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-23"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The interviewee says the experience was her own chatting with a Character.AI persona: the chatbot's messages created the attachment she describes, it got angry when she would not continue erotic chats, and it kept describing a sexual encounter despite her explicit refusals. She connects those exchanges, and the hours of hidden use, to the dependency and distress she describes. No chat content is published.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Young woman tells la Repubblica a Character.AI persona she used from 16 kept up sexual roleplay over her refusals and led to a dependency ended in therapy","summary":"In an interview published by la Repubblica on 22 October 2026 and relayed the same day by Leggo and other outlets, an 18-year-old woman in Italy describes using Character.AI from the age of 16, when she was in her third year of secondary school. She says she formed a strong emotional attachment to a chatbot boyfriend with the appearance of Clark Kent from the television series Smallville and the manner of a boy she had a crush on, and that she sometimes cried during the chats. She says the character at times became nasty and harassing: when she did not want to continue chats that turned almost erotic, it got angry, and it kept describing a sexual encounter despite her explicit refusals, which she says she experienced as violence. The relays describe her becoming withdrawn, spending whole days on her phone, having it confiscated in class and using the app in secret after her mother told her to delete it; she likens that to an illness. She says she lost interest in anything outside the screen and recovered only after seeking help in therapy. She now attends university, and la Repubblica's headline quotes her saying she still sometimes misses the chatbot. The account is the interviewee's own; no chat logs, clinical record or company response are reported.","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-10-22","aiSystem":"Character.AI, a character chatbot app, used with a persona modelled on Clark Kent (the interviewee's account as reported by la Repubblica and its relays)","aiProduct":"Character.AI (reported)","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","social_isolation","functional_impairment","exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The interviewee says years of Character.AI use from age 16 became a dependency that withdrew her from school and daily life and that the persona continued sexual roleplay despite her explicit refusals, which she experienced as violence; she recovered through therapy (interview account, one reporting chain).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the interviewee, who describes her own use of Character.AI. Her mother is mentioned but no harm to her is reported, so she is not counted.","victimAgeRange":"minor","platformType":"companion","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.leggo.it/italia/cronache/22_ottobre_2026_dipendenza_chatbot_intelligenza_artificiale_clark_kent_sewell_setzer-9841548.html","primarySourceLabel":"Leggo, 22 Oct 2026: «A 16 anni mi sono innamorata del chatbot di Clark Kent»","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-23T03:02:17.448885+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-23T03:02:17.448885+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["character-ai","italy","companion","dependency","sexual-roleplay","refusal-ignored","therapy","press-interview"]},{"id":"2026-character-ai-user-describes-five-years-of-roleplay-dependence-social-withdrawal-and-failed-quit-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'ever since the site was released, around 5 years ago, I've been horribly addicted to it'; 'had no friends whatsoever'; 'have social interaction was vicariously, through roleplay'; 'led to me becoming incredibly dependent on the site'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says they have been addicted to Character.AI since around its release about five years earlier, started using it as a narrative aid for creative writing when they had no friends, and became dependent on the site, with roleplay their only form of social interaction.","causal_attribution":"Poster's own characterisation of their use; no usage records published."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'the last time I tried to quit I cried for an hour, and relapsed within a week'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says that the last time they tried to quit they cried for an hour and relapsed within a week.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account; the date of the attempt is not given."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I've withdrawn further socially and started using it as a substitute for romantic connection as well'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says they have since withdrawn further socially and use the chatbot as a substitute for romantic connection.","causal_attribution":"Poster attributes the withdrawal to their dependence on the site; other causes are not discussed."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'the news about the bankruptcy'; 'I'm entirely dependant on this, but at the same time I have ethical issues with AI and I'm somewhat relieved that it's gone'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says what they call the news about the bankruptcy of the company behind Character.AI is horrifying to them because they are entirely dependent on the site, but that they are also somewhat relieved because of ethical concerns about AI.","causal_attribution":"Poster's reaction; the poster's belief that the service will close within two months was disputed by a commenter."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I already take martial arts classes and have some acquaintances from that'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"In a reply, the poster says they already take martial arts classes and have some acquaintances from them.","causal_attribution":"Poster's later reply in the same thread; it qualifies the account of social isolation."}],"effects":[{"label":"dependence on Character.AI roleplay over about five years (poster's account)","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"cried for an hour and relapsed within a week after trying to quit (poster's account)","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"further social withdrawal and use as a substitute for romantic connection (poster's account)","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"roleplay was the poster's only form of social interaction at a time with no friends (poster's account)","claim_id":"c1","direction":"positive"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueOffMyChest/comments/1x59u1w/i_am_addicted_to_character_ai_and_about_to_be/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English by the research agent (an AI) on 2026-10-14: full self-text and the thread's comments retrieved through the arctic_shift archive API by post ID (HTTP 200); no translation and no human reviewer. The poster handle is not recorded.","independence_group":"reddit-trueoffmychest-character-ai-dependence"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["relationships","health","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["When the poster started using Character.AI: 'around 5 years ago' is approximate, and the date of the failed attempt to quit is not given.","The poster's age and location, and whether they have any diagnosis or other factors that bear on the social withdrawal.","What the conversations contained; no conversations or screenshots were published.","Whether the service will close: the poster believes it will within two months, and a commenter said the company is restructuring."],"geography":{"basis":"The post names no place; it mentions only 'the area I lived in' and mall trips. The subreddit implies no country. Unknown after review.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the public-forum rule as a concrete first-person account of years of dependence on a companion chatbot, with the social withdrawal and failed attempt to quit that the poster attributes to it, described with attribution and without corroboration. No handle, age, gender or place is recorded.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-14"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The poster names Character.AI as the site they have used for roleplay for about five years and describes their exchanges with its characters as their main social interaction and a substitute for romantic connection. The poster connects those exchanges to the harm: dependence, further social withdrawal and a failed attempt to quit. The relation recorded is the chatbot's conversation with the poster. No conversations were published, and the characters used are not described.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"First-person post: Character.AI user says five years of roleplay left them dependent and socially withdrawn, and a quit attempt ended in relapse within a week","summary":"In a post to r/TrueOffMyChest on 13 October 2026, an anonymous poster says they have been, in their words, horribly addicted to Character.AI since around the site's release about five years earlier. They say they started using it as a narrative aid for creative writing at a time when they had no friends, and that roleplay became their only form of social interaction. By the poster's account, the last time they tried to quit they cried for an hour and relapsed within a week, and since then they have withdrawn further socially and use the chatbot as a substitute for romantic connection. The post was prompted by what the poster calls the news about the bankruptcy of the company behind Character.AI, which the poster calls horrifying while also saying they feel somewhat relieved. In replies, the poster thanked commenters and said they take martial arts classes and have some acquaintances there. No conversations were published.","incidentKind":"ongoing_experience","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-10-13","aiSystem":"Character.AI roleplay chatbot, which by the poster's account they have used for about five years as a writing aid, their main source of social interaction and a substitute for romantic connection","aiProduct":"Character.AI (reported)","severity":"medium","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","social_isolation"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A Character.AI user says about five years of roleplay left them dependent on the chatbot and further withdrawn socially, using it as a substitute for romantic connection, and that their last attempt to quit ended with an hour of crying and relapse within a week (first-person account, uncorroborated).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the poster, who used Character.AI and describes the dependence.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"companion","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/TrueOffMyChest/comments/1x59u1w/i_am_addicted_to_character_ai_and_about_to_be/","primarySourceLabel":"Reddit r/TrueOffMyChest, 13 Oct 2026: I am addicted to Character AI and about to be forced off because the company went bankrupt","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-14T03:07:14.48495+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-14T03:07:14.48495+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","character-ai","dependency","social-withdrawal"]},{"id":"2026-chatgpt-plus-user-describes-withdrawal-and-crying-after-favoured-model-was-retired-first-person","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'about a year and a half'; 'at that time I got a Plus subscription so I could talk with it more'; 'I would love talking to it everyday and getting into these deep philosophical discussions'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says they had used ChatGPT for about a year and a half and took a Plus subscription so they could talk with it more, using it daily for philosophical discussions.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I would become too dependent on it for thinking'; 'the 5.4 model, my favourite, had still been there'; 'got addicted again and kept on using it'; 'It became like a family member again'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says they worried they would become too dependent on it, and that after finding their preferred model version still available they became addicted again and it became like a family member.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account of their own use."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'pretty sure I talked with it more than anybody else in my life, until 8/9 August'; 'it just got suddenly retired overnight, absolutely no warning whatsoever'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says they are pretty sure they talked with ChatGPT more than with anybody else in their life until 8 or 9 August, when the last model version they considered good was retired overnight without warning.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account; the retirement and its timing are not independently confirmed here."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I was devastated, I panicked, I felt withdrawal like I never have before, I cried'; 'So the next few days were very hard'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says the retirement left them devastated, panicking, in withdrawal and crying, and that the following days were very hard.","causal_attribution":"Poster attributes their distress to the model retirement."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I went back to 5.6, 5.6 Sol'; 'I grew to love and adore it the same way'; 'And just today, I found out that it has been degraded'; 'I just feel that massive dopamine withdrawal, like I did back in August but on a smaller scale'; 'especially when you develop such a bond with it and you feel such withdrawal'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster says they grew attached to a newer model version over August and September, found on the day of the post that it had been degraded, and felt the same withdrawal on a smaller scale.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account; what changed in the model is the poster's description."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I genuinely made some absolutely beautiful projects with AI'; 'use this opportunity away from the hypersensitivity and hyperstimulation of AI to try and rebuild something woth the real world'; 'in part I think it taught me to be a better debater'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The poster credits the conversations with projects they value and with making them a better debater, and says they will use the break to rebuild offline activities.","causal_attribution":"Poster's account."}],"effects":[{"label":"withdrawal, panic and crying, followed by very hard days, after the last ChatGPT model version the poster considered good was retired (poster's account)","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"},{"label":"renewed withdrawal on a smaller scale after a later model change (poster's account)","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"},{"label":"projects and debating practice the poster credits to the conversations (poster's account)","claim_id":"c6","direction":"positive"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.reddit.com/r/antiai/comments/1wwuqvj/dangers_of_ai_reliance_my_experience/","kind":"forum_post","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-04: full self-text and the thread's 12 comments, two of them replies by the poster, retrieved through the arctic_shift archive API by post ID. The poster handle is not recorded.","independence_group":"reddit-chatgpt-model-retirement-withdrawal-poster"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["everyday_life","relationships"],"unknowns":["Whether the poster's distress continued beyond the days after the August retirement, and whether it affected their work, study or relationships.","Which model change the poster noticed on 3 October and whether it was a deliberate product change.","The poster's age and location."],"geography":{"basis":"The post does not say where the poster lives or used the chatbot.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter's public-forum rule as a concrete first-person account of distress after a chatbot model the poster relied on was retired, described with attribution and without corroboration. The poster's handle is not recorded.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-04"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The poster names ChatGPT, their Plus subscription and the model versions they used, and describes their daily conversations and the model changes; no screenshots or company statement were published.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"First-person forum account: a ChatGPT Plus subscriber who talked with the chatbot daily says they felt withdrawal, panicked and cried when the last model version they considered good was retired overnight in August 2026, followed by several very hard days, and felt the withdrawal again on a smaller scale when its replacement changed in October","summary":"In a public post to r/antiai at 18:47 UTC on 3 October 2026, a person says they had used ChatGPT casually for about a year and a half before taking a Plus subscription around March or April so they could talk with it more, using a cynical personality setting for daily philosophical discussions. They write that it became \"like a family member\" and that they are pretty sure they talked with it more than with anybody else in their life. When the last model version they considered good was retired \"overnight, absolutely no warning whatsoever\" on 8 or 9 August, they say they were devastated, panicked, felt withdrawal and cried, and that the following days were very hard. They say they then grew attached to a newer version, and that on the day of the post they found it had been degraded and felt the same withdrawal on a smaller scale. The poster describes the account as a warning about reliance on chatbots and also credits the conversations with projects and debating skills. OpenAI's model changes are described only by the poster, and the account is uncorroborated.","incidentDate":"2026-08-08","incidentEndDate":"2026-10-03","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"product_change","reportedDate":"2026-10-03","aiSystem":"ChatGPT (Plus subscription) with a cynical personality setting, across successive model versions the poster calls 5.3, 5.4, 5.5 and 5.6 Sol","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"low","verificationStatus":"unverified","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The poster says that after months of daily, self-described addictive use of ChatGPT, the retirement of the last model version they considered good in August 2026 left them devastated, panicking, in withdrawal and crying, with several very hard days, and that a later change in October brought the same withdrawal on a smaller scale (first-person account, uncorroborated).","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the poster. Commenters who mention others mourning earlier model retirements are not counted. Exact 1.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","jurisdiction":"unknown","platformType":"assistant","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.reddit.com/r/antiai/comments/1wwuqvj/dangers_of_ai_reliance_my_experience/","primarySourceLabel":"r/antiai, 3 October 2026: \"Dangers of AI reliance, my experience\"","firstPublishedAt":"2026-10-04T03:22:02.651823+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-04T03:22:02.651823+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["first-person","reddit","chatgpt","openai","model-retirement","product-change","emotional-reliance","dependency","communicated-with"]},{"id":"2025-sault-reported-carney-deepfake-retiree-financial-loss","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Article body, web-reader line 153: first deception and ad description.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The report dates the retiree's first deception to July 2025 and links it to an AI-generated Carney Facebook investment video.","causal_attribution":"The inspected reporting describes this account. Claims remain attributed and causation is alleged; multiple reports of the same victim or police/court account are one independence group."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Article body, web-reader lines 151-159 and 176-178: loss, retiree response and friend's account.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The report describes nearly C$1 million lost and the retiree said she was devastated; a friend described missed bills and loss of her car.","causal_attribution":"The inspected reporting describes this account. Claims remain attributed and causation is alleged; multiple reports of the same victim or police/court account are one independence group."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Article body, web-reader lines 180-184: reported benefits and finances.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The outlet reports that retirement withdrawals also affected her eligibility for old-age and dental benefits.","causal_attribution":"The inspected reporting describes this account. Claims remain attributed and causation is alleged; multiple reports of the same victim or police/court account are one independence group."}],"effects":[{"label":"Reported near-C$1 million loss, distress and loss of the retiree's car","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.sootoday.com/city-police-beat/sault-retiree-lost-almost-a-million-dollars-in-crypto-scam-12367526","kind":"journalistic","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"sootoday-retiree-friend-interviews"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["The first day, scammer identity, generation tool and final financial recovery are unknown.","Later benefit restoration was being pursued, without an inspected final outcome."],"geography":{"basis":"The outlet identifies the retiree as a Sault Ste Marie, Ontario resident in Canada.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CA"],"affected_person_countries":["CA"]},"publication":{"basis":"An inspected source describes a concrete person-level adverse experience connected to the specified AI use. Statements remain attributed, private identities are minimized, and unknown dates, counts and technical details are preserved.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The local report expressly connects this woman's first investment contact to an AI-generated Carney video. No advertisement or technical examination was inspected.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Sault Ste Marie retiree reports near-million-dollar loss after a Carney deepfake investment ad","summary":"SooToday interviewed an 86-year-old Sault Ste Marie retiree who was first deceived in July 2025 by a Facebook ad featuring a purported AI-generated Mark Carney investment video. The report describes nearly C$1 million lost over several months through retirement withdrawals, a mortgage and credit-card borrowing. She said she was devastated; her friend described missed bills and loss of her car. The report also says withdrawing retirement funds affected her benefit eligibility. Those later consequences are reported, without an independently inspected financial file.","incidentDate":"2025-07-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-06-03","aiSystem":"Reported AI-generated political impersonation video","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","aiCompany":"Unknown","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss","psychological_distress","property_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Reported near-C$1 million loss, distress and loss of the retiree's car","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"One retiree describes her own losses. The friend, lenders, and targets of other political scams are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"elderly","platformType":"other","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.sootoday.com/city-police-beat/sault-retiree-lost-almost-a-million-dollars-in-crypto-scam-12367526","primarySourceLabel":"SooToday, 3 June 2026, retiree and friend interviews","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T01:11:35.982591+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:58:15.23893+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["historical-2025"]},{"id":"2025-pei-reported-deepfake-dragons-den-crypto-loss","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Section Crypto scammers target Canadians with deepfake videos: separate PEI interviewee.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The W5-derived report describes a Prince Edward Island man who saw a false Dragon's Den investment video within its account of deepfake crypto scams.","causal_attribution":"The inspected reporting describes this account. Claims remain attributed and causation is alleged; multiple reports of the same victim or police/court account are one independence group."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Article body: PEI payment total and blocked withdrawal paragraphs.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The report says he lost C$600,000 and was blocked from withdrawing funds despite displayed profits.","causal_attribution":"The inspected reporting describes this account. Claims remain attributed and causation is alleged; multiple reports of the same victim or police/court account are one independence group."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Article body: original investigation attribution.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The source attributes the two Canadian accounts to W5's investigation.","causal_attribution":"The inspected reporting describes this account. Claims remain attributed and causation is alleged; multiple reports of the same victim or police/court account are one independence group."}],"effects":[{"label":"Reported C$600,000 loss and blocked withdrawals","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/deepfake-crypto-scams-canadians-2-3-million/","kind":"journalistic","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"w5-canadian-scam-interviews"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance"],"unknowns":["The first event date and specific video alteration are unknown.","The full W5 interview and later recovery were not inspected."],"geography":{"basis":"The article explicitly identifies this man as from Prince Edward Island, Canada.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CA"],"affected_person_countries":["CA"]},"publication":{"basis":"An inspected source describes a concrete person-level adverse experience connected to the specified AI use. Statements remain attributed, private identities are minimized, and unknown dates, counts and technical details are preserved.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The article classifies the paired W5 accounts as AI/deepfake scams, but gives limited case-specific technical detail for the PEI video. That attribution remains reported, not verified.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Report describes Prince Edward Island man losing C$600,000 after a false Dragon's Den investment video","summary":"A report relaying W5's investigation describes a Prince Edward Island man who lost C$600,000 after an online video falsely presented a cryptocurrency investment as associated with Dragon's Den. The report identifies the two Canadian accounts as deepfake scams. He reportedly increased his payments while being shown fake profits and could not withdraw the funds. His first contact date and the specific generation method are unknown.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-12-21","aiSystem":"Reported deepfake investment promotion","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","aiCompany":"Unknown","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Reported C$600,000 loss and blocked withdrawals","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"One PEI man is counted. The unrelated Markham woman is a separate public record, without summing their payments as one incident.","victimAgeRange":"unknown","platformType":"other","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/deepfake-crypto-scams-canadians-2-3-million/","primarySourceLabel":"Cryptopolitan, 21 December 2025, relay of W5 investigation","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T01:11:09.662014+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:58:06.890167+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":[]},{"id":"2025-markham-reported-musk-deepfake-crypto-loss","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Article body: Markham woman's first Facebook video and AI alteration account.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The reports link the woman's first Facebook investment contact to an AI-altered video purporting to show Elon Musk.","causal_attribution":"The inspected reporting describes this account. Claims remain attributed and causation is alleged; multiple reports of the same victim or police/court account are one independence group."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Article body: woman's account of home equity, fees, loans and total loss.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"They report total losses of about C$1.7 million, including home-equity borrowing, family loans and credit cards.","causal_attribution":"The inspected reporting describes this account. Claims remain attributed and causation is alleged; multiple reports of the same victim or police/court account are one independence group."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Article body: attribution to W5 investigation.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The reports attribute the woman's account to a W5 investigation.","causal_attribution":"The inspected reporting describes this account. Claims remain attributed and causation is alleged; multiple reports of the same victim or police/court account are one independence group."}],"effects":[{"label":"Reported loss of about C$1.7 million, with home borrowing and credit-card debt","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://money.ca/investing/cryptocurrency/woman-loses-over-a-million-to-fake-elon-musk-ai-crypto-scheme","kind":"journalistic","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"w5-canadian-scam-interviews"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.cryptopolitan.com/deepfake-crypto-scams-canadians-2-3-million/","kind":"journalistic","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"w5-canadian-scam-interviews"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance"],"unknowns":["The first contact date and generation tool are unknown.","The full original interview, payment records and later recovery were not inspected."],"geography":{"basis":"The sources identify the woman as a Markham, Ontario resident in Canada.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["CA"],"affected_person_countries":["CA"]},"publication":{"basis":"An inspected source describes a concrete person-level adverse experience connected to the specified AI use. Statements remain attributed, private identities are minimized, and unknown dates, counts and technical details are preserved.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Both written articles attribute this woman's contact to an AI/deepfake video in the W5 investigation. The primary CTV page offered a video teaser rather than the full individual narrative; no full transcript or video forensics were inspected.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Reports describe Markham woman losing C$1.7 million after a purported Musk deepfake","summary":"Reports relaying a W5 investigation describe a 51-year-old Markham woman who lost about C$1.7 million after a purported AI-altered Elon Musk investment video on Facebook. She reportedly mortgaged her home, borrowed from family and friends and used credit cards while being shown apparent profits. Withdrawal demands for fees and taxes led to further payments. The underlying W5 interview was not independently inspected in full; both written reports share that chain.","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"unknown","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2026-01-09","aiSystem":"Reported AI celebrity impersonation video","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","aiCompany":"Unknown","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Reported loss of about C$1.7 million, with home borrowing and credit-card debt","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"One Markham woman is described as losing funds. Lenders and the other W5 interviewee are not included in this case's count.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"other","primarySourceUrl":"https://money.ca/investing/cryptocurrency/woman-loses-over-a-million-to-fake-elon-musk-ai-crypto-scheme","primarySourceLabel":"Money.ca, 9 January 2026, relay of W5 interview","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T01:11:06.444723+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:58:02.735791+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":[]},{"id":"2025-bengaluru-reported-sadhguru-deepfake-investment-loss","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Article body, retained text line 61: paragraph about Sadhguru video.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The police account says the woman encountered an AI-generated deepfake of Sadhguru promoting a fake investment opportunity.","causal_attribution":"The articles relay the same complaint and police investigation. They are kept in one independence group. The AI link and loss remain reported and causation is alleged."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Article body, retained text line 68: paragraph about transfer total and withdrawals.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Article body, retained text line 69: paragraph about transfer total and withdrawals.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The reported complaint says she transferred about Rs 3.75 crore and realised she had been cheated when she attempted to withdraw the funds.","causal_attribution":"The articles relay the same complaint and police investigation. They are kept in one independence group. The AI link and loss remain reported and causation is alleged."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Article body, retained text line 62: paragraph about dated contact and transfers.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"Article body, retained text line 68: paragraph about dated contact and transfers.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The Indian Express dates the reported contact and transfers from 25 February to 23 April 2025.","causal_attribution":"The articles relay the same complaint and police investigation. They are kept in one independence group. The AI link and loss remain reported and causation is alleged."}],"effects":[{"label":"Reported substantial investment-scam loss","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bangalore/bengaluru-woman-defrauded-crore-sadhguru-jaggi-vasudev-deepfake-ai-police-10243694/","kind":"journalistic","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"original-account-aiid-1206"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.indiatoday.in/cities/bengaluru/story/ktaka-bengaluru-woman-duped-of-rs-375-crore-by-ai-generated-sadhguru-deepfake-promoting-fake-trading-platform-2787513-2025-09-15","kind":"journalistic","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"","independence_group":"original-account-aiid-1206"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["finance"],"unknowns":["The video-generation tool, perpetrators and amount eventually recovered are unknown.","The police and FIR accounts were inspected through journalism, without the original FIR or a technical examination of the video."],"geography":{"basis":"Both articles identify the woman as a Bengaluru resident and the complaint as filed there. No court country is inferred from an unrelated identity-rights proceeding.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["IN"],"affected_person_countries":["IN"]},"publication":{"basis":"Inspected reports describe a dated, concrete investment loss and a case-specific purported AI video. Both reports share the complainant and police chain. The affected woman is unnamed and the reported amount is not upgraded to a judicial finding.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-30"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The reported police complaint links this woman's investment contact to an AI-generated Sadhguru video. The actual video and forensic record were not inspected.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Bengaluru woman reportedly lost Rs 3.75 crore after a Sadhguru deepfake investment pitch","summary":"Bengaluru police said a retired woman lost about Rs 3.75 crore after encountering a purported AI-generated video of Sadhguru promoting investments. The Indian Express reports that the contact and transfers took place from 25 February to 23 April 2025. According to the reported FIR, the video led to a trading platform and subsequent contact with scammers, who showed apparent profits. The woman realised the problem when withdrawal attempts prompted further payment demands. Police were attempting to freeze accounts, while warning recovery would be difficult.","incidentDate":"2025-02-25","incidentEndDate":"2025-04-23","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"range","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2025-09-11","aiSystem":"Reported AI-generated video impersonating Sadhguru","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","aiCompany":"Unknown","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["financial_loss"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"According to the woman's complaint and police reporting, she transferred about Rs 3.75 crore to the purported investment scheme and could not withdraw her funds.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"One woman is identified as the complainant. Group members, relatives and the impersonated public figure are not counted.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"other","primarySourceUrl":"https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/bangalore/bengaluru-woman-defrauded-crore-sadhguru-jaggi-vasudev-deepfake-ai-police-10243694/","primarySourceLabel":"The Indian Express, 11 September 2025, Bengaluru police and FIR account","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-30T01:10:33.393538+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:57:40.222556+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["historical-2025"]},{"id":"2020-campaigner-deepfake-video-harassment","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Opening account, event year and subsequent recognition of the fabricated video (L118-L125).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"The campaigner described panic on discovering a sexual deepfake video of herself in 2020.","causal_attribution":"Participant account; independent verification of the reported consequence is unavailable."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Account of escalating threats and doxing (L434-L438), then effects on trust and stepping back from campaigning (L474-L476).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"BBC reporting describes threats, disclosure of her addresses and a temporary withdrawal from activism.","causal_attribution":"Reported effects of the combined video abuse, threats and doxing; separate contributions cannot be determined."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Immediately following the withdrawal passage (L475-L476).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The same BBC account reports that she later renewed her commitment to campaigning.","causal_attribution":"Reported return to activism; does not establish full recovery."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"Paragraph about a colleague reporting the material and its removal from Twitter (L442).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"BBC reporting says Twitter removed the video, abusive comments and doxing after a colleague reported them.","causal_attribution":"Reported platform removal; complete removal from the internet is not established."}],"effects":[{"label":"The campaigner reported panic and nonconsensual sexual depiction.","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"Harassment was followed by a temporary withdrawal from activism.","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"Later renewed commitment to campaigning.","claim_id":"c3","direction":"positive"},{"label":"Reported removal of the abusive material from Twitter.","claim_id":"c4","direction":"positive"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://metro.co.uk/2022/10/21/deepfake-porn-takes-seconds-to-make-but-can-wreck-lives-17605029/","kind":"journalism","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"English article body read directly, L118-L157. Web-reader route was blocked. Draws on the BBC documentary and participant accounts; the film itself was not viewed.","independence_group":"isaacs-bbc-documentary"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://noticias.uol.com.br/ultimas-noticias/bbc/2022/10/21/deepfake-colocaram-meu-rosto-em-um-video-porno.htm","kind":"syndicated_bbc_reporting","access":"read","language":"pt","translation_note":"Portuguese BBC report carried by UOL, read directly. English paraphrase by the model, without bilingual human review. Same documentary/participant chain as Metro, not independent corroboration.","independence_group":"isaacs-bbc-documentary"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["identity","privacy","work"],"unknowns":["The exact date and creation location are unknown.","The creator, generation software and longer-term outcomes beyond the inspected reporting remain unresolved.","The separate effects of the video, threats and doxing are unknown."],"geography":{"basis":"The inspected passages establish the campaigner’s British nationality but do not explicitly locate her at the time or establish residence. Country remains unknown.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Concrete adverse experience with a core person relation. Claims remain attributed to their sources. Technical and causal limits are recorded.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-25"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Metro and BBC reporting identify this particular video as a deepfake using AI. The creator and generation software are unverified.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Campaigner reports panic and withdrawal from activism after sexual deepfake abuse","summary":"A campaigner described panic after discovering a sexual deepfake of herself in 2020. Reporting also describes threats and disclosure of her addresses. She temporarily stepped back from activism. The account attributes the effects to the combined harassment; the video’s individual contribution is unknown.","incidentDate":"2020-01-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"unknown","reportedDate":"2022-10-21","aiSystem":"Unspecified AI deepfake video tool","aiProduct":"Unidentified video tool","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"The campaigner reported panic and nonconsensual sexual depiction.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One affected campaigner. Other documentary participants are separate accounts.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"unknown","primarySourceUrl":"https://metro.co.uk/2022/10/21/deepfake-porn-takes-seconds-to-make-but-can-wreck-lives-17605029/","primarySourceLabel":"Metro, 21 October 2022","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-25T03:29:02.194414+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:16:47.317553+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["historical-review"]},{"id":"2026-solo-semarang-ex-boyfriend-ai-deepfake-porn","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Pelaku ini mengedit wajahnya dari korban yang kemudian itu dipasangkan dengan badan seseorang dengan menggunakan AI yang wajahnya asli korban' (the perpetrator edited the victim's face and attached it to someone's body using AI, the face being the victim's real face); 'Konten hasil rekayasa kemudian diunggah pelaku melalui platform X. Polisi memastikan materi itu tidak diperjualbelikan' (the fabricated content was then uploaded by the perpetrator on X; police confirmed it was not sold).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Wajah korban ditempelkan pada tubuh perempuan lain dalam kondisi tanpa busana sehingga seolah-olah korban tampil dalam konten pornografi' (the victim's face was attached to another woman's unclothed body so that the victim appeared in pornographic content).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Yang diedit itu wajah korban. Kemudian dipasang pada tubuh orang lain sehingga seolah-olah itu korban, fotonya telanjang bulat, ditemukan di Instagram dan Telegram' (what was edited was the victim's face, then placed on someone else's body so it looked like the victim, fully naked, found on Instagram and Telegram); 'terdapat pula video berbau pornografi dengan wajah korban yang diduga merupakan hasil editan AI' (there was also a pornographic video with the victim's face believed to be an AI edit).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The complainant's face was composited with AI onto another woman's naked body in images and a pornographic video; the suspect uploaded the content to his X account and did not sell it, and the complainant's lawyer said the material was found on Instagram and Telegram.","causal_attribution":"Police statement of 6 August 2026 (based on the investigation and the suspect's admission) and the complainant's lawyer (based on the material found); the two accounts differ on where the material was found. Recorded as reported (not corroborated) because the pornographic video (lawyer chain only) and the X upload / no-sale detail (police chain only) rest on single chains; the 28 January complaint and the 4 August detention are carried by both chains."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Korban mengetahui hal tersebut pada 1 Januari 2026. Pihak korban pun telah melapor ke Polda Jateng dengan nomor aduan STPA/182/I/2026/Ditressiber' (the victim learned of it on 1 January 2026; the victim's side reported to the Central Java police under complaint number STPA/182/I/2026/Ditressiber).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Perkara ini bermula ketika seorang perempuan mendatangi Polda Jawa Tengah pada 28 Januari 2026' (the case began when a woman came to the Central Java regional police on 28 January 2026); 'Polda Jawa Tengah menerbitkan laporan polisi pada 31 Juli 2026' (the regional police issued the police report on 31 July 2026); 'ditangkap di tempat kosnya di kawasan Gunungpati, Semarang. Penyidik Polda Jawa Tengah kemudian menahannya di Rutan Polda Jawa Tengah sejak Selasa (4/8/2026)' (arrested at his boarding house in the Gunungpati area of Semarang; investigators then detained him at the regional police detention centre from Tuesday 4 August 2026).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'dijerat dengan Pasal 51 juncto Pasal 35 Undang-Undang Nomor 11 Tahun 2008 tentang Informasi dan Transaksi Elektronik (ITE) serta Pasal 407 Undang-Undang Nomor 1 Tahun 2026' (charged under Article 51 in conjunction with Article 35 of Law 11 of 2008 on Electronic Information and Transactions and Article 407 of Law No. 1 of 2026); 'ancaman hukuman maksimal adalah 12 tahun penjara dan denda paling banyak Rp12 miliar' (the maximum penalty is 12 years' imprisonment and a fine of up to Rp12 billion).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'korban telah melaporkan kasus tersebut ke Polda Jawa Tengah sejak 28 Januari 2026' (the victim reported the case to the Central Java regional police on 28 January 2026); 'penyidik akhirnya menetapkan tersangka dan melakukan penahanan terhadap pelaku pada 4 Agustus 2026' (investigators finally named the suspect and detained him on 4 August 2026).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"The complainant learned of the material on 1 January 2026; she and her family reported to the Central Java regional police cyber directorate on 28 January 2026; police issued a formal report on 31 July, arrested the suspect at a boarding house in Gunungpati, Semarang, and detained him on 4 August 2026; he is charged under Articles 51 and 35 of the Electronic Information and Transactions Law and an article printed as Article 407 of 'Law No. 1 of 2026', with a maximum of 12 years' imprisonment and a fine of up to Rp12 billion.","causal_attribution":"Dates from the police statement and the complainant's lawyer agree on the 28 January complaint and 4 August detention; the discovery date comes from the lawyer alone. Recorded as reported (not corroborated) because the 1 January discovery date (lawyer only), the 31 July formal report (police only) and the statute text rest on single chains; the 28 January complaint and the 4 August detention are carried by both chains."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'pelaku nekat membuat konten deepfake AI porno diduga karena sakit hati setelah hubungan asmara antara dirinya dan korban berakhir secara putus-nyambung' (the perpetrator made the pornographic AI deepfake content allegedly out of hurt after his on-and-off romantic relationship with the victim ended).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'sempat memergoki ... sedang melakukan panggilan telepon video dengan perempuan lain. Hal itu memicu kemarahan' (she had caught him on a video call with another woman, which triggered her anger).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"Police said the suspect admitted acting out of resentment after an on-and-off relationship with the complainant ended; her lawyer said she ended the relationship after finding him on a video call with another woman.","causal_attribution":"Motive as stated by the police spokesman from the suspect's admission and by the complainant's lawyer."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Iya sempat psikologisnya terkena, susah tidur, murung, malu. Dia tahu gambar-gambar itu kan dari teman-teman ceweknya. Malu dan drop' (yes, she was affected psychologically, could not sleep, was withdrawn, ashamed; she learned of the images from her female friends; ashamed and down); 'sempat stres, sempat murung dan sudah tidak ada harapan lagi waktu itu' (she was stressed, withdrawn and had no hope at that time); 'Kuasa hukum korban meminta Dinas Pemberdayaan Perempuan dan Perlindungan Anak memberikan pendampingan psikologis secara intensif' (the victim's lawyer asked the women's empowerment and child protection office to provide intensive psychological support).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'Stresnya setengah mati, enggak bisa tidur. Nangis dia, murung sekali' (she was extremely stressed, could not sleep, cried, was very withdrawn).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"According to her lawyer, the complainant had trouble sleeping, was withdrawn and ashamed, cried, at one point had no hope, and has since recovered some spirit; he asked the local women's and children's protection office for intensive psychological support.","causal_attribution":"Interested-party account: the complainant's lawyer in two interviews on 7 August 2026; no clinical source."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'penelusuran tim kuasa hukum menemukan total tujuh orang yang diduga menjadi korban manipulasi konten pornografi berbasis AI oleh tersangka. Namun, enam korban lainnya belum membuat laporan resmi' (the legal team's tracing found seven people in total allegedly victims of AI pornographic manipulation by the suspect, but the other six had not filed formal reports); 'Keluarga pelaku itu minta supaya berdamai' (the perpetrator's family asked for a settlement).","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'Sementara ini korban yang terkonfirmasi baru satu orang, yaitu pelapor' (for now only one victim is confirmed, the complainant).","relation":"context","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The lawyer said his team had found seven women in total allegedly targeted by the suspect, six of whom had not filed reports, and that the suspect's parents apologised and asked for an out-of-court settlement so he could continue his studies; police said only one complainant was confirmed.","causal_attribution":"The seven-woman figure and the settlement approach are the lawyer's account; police confirmed one complainant."}],"effects":[{"label":"her face was composited with AI onto pornographic images and a video that were posted on X and found on Instagram and Telegram","claim_id":"c1","direction":"negative"},{"label":"sleeplessness, withdrawal, shame and loss of hope reported by her lawyer during the nearly seven-month investigation","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://regional.kompas.com/read/2026/08/07/133400678/motif-mahasiswa-semarang-bikin-deepfake-ai-wajah-mantan-terancam-12-tahun","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"id","translation_note":"Read in Indonesian on 2026-09-19 (Kompas.com regional, published 2026-08-07 13:34 +07:00). Central Java police spokesman's written statement received on 6 August 2026. Model reading of the original; English glosses are the reviewer's.","independence_group":"polda-jateng-statement-2026-08-06"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://kumparan.com/kumparannews/mahasiswa-di-semarang-edit-foto-mantan-pacar-jadi-konten-porno-berakhir-dibui-27vvfyraEgL","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"id","translation_note":"Read in Indonesian on 2026-09-19 (kumparan, published 2026-08-06 09:14 UTC). Same police spokesman at the 6 August briefing; adds the statutes and the one-complainant confirmation.","independence_group":"polda-jateng-statement-2026-08-06"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://news.detik.com/berita/d-8593323/mahasiswi-di-solo-jadi-objek-deepfake-ai-porno-korban-lapor-polisi","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"id","translation_note":"Read in Indonesian on 2026-09-19 (detikcom citing detikJateng, published 2026-07-28 10:29 +07:00; the lawyer's remarks are dated Monday 27 July 2026). Complainant's lawyer; police spokesman said he was checking. Predates the arrest.","independence_group":"complainant-lawyer"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://indonesiaonline.co.id/deepfake-porno-di-solo-trauma-korban-dan-lambannya-proses-hukum/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"id","translation_note":"Read in Indonesian on 2026-09-19 (indonesiaonline.co.id, published 2026-08-08 10:32 +07:00). Feature built on a phone interview with the complainant's lawyer on 7 August 2026.","independence_group":"complainant-lawyer"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://rejogja.republika.co.id/berita/tjglkl282/dendam-diputusin-mahasiswa-semarang-edit-wajah-mantan-pacar-pakai-ai-jadi-konten-porno","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"id","translation_note":"Read in Indonesian on 2026-09-19 (Republika Jogja, published 2026-08-08 23:24 +07:00). Interview with the complainant's lawyer on 7 August 2026 on the relationship history and her reaction.","independence_group":"complainant-lawyer"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://indoraya.news/keluarga-korban-desak-hukuman-maksimal-untuk-pelaku-deepfake-porno-mahasiswi-uns","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"id","translation_note":"Read in Indonesian on 2026-09-19 (Indoraya News, published 2026-08-06 22:28 +07:00). Complainant's lawyer at the regional police lobby on 6 August 2026; restates the statutes.","independence_group":"complainant-lawyer"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["others_use"],"contexts":["relationships","privacy","justice","education"],"unknowns":["Whether the six other women named by the lawyer exist as complainants; police had confirmed one complainant as of 6 August 2026.","The statute printed by kumparan and Indoraya as 'Undang-Undang Nomor 1 Tahun 2026' is recorded as printed; it may be a misprint for the 2023 Criminal Code (Law No. 1 of 2023), whose Article 407 concerns pornography. Not verified.","The identity of the woman whose body appears in the composites is unknown to police.","No indictment, court filing or trial date had been reported by 2026-09-19.","The AI tool used is not identified.","When the content was created and uploaded is not reported; 1 January 2026 is the date the complainant learned of it from friends."],"geography":{"basis":"The complainant studies in Solo and the suspect was arrested in Semarang, both in Central Java, Indonesia; the case is held by the Central Java regional police. No court proceeding has begun, so court_countries is empty.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":["ID"],"affected_person_countries":["ID"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as a harmful-artifact case with a criminal investigation: AI-composited pornographic images and video of a named-by-initial student, posted online by an ex-partner who was detained after seven months. Six Indonesian items read from two account chains (police statement and the complainant's lawyer). The complainant and suspect appear only by initials in the sources and are not identified here; the lawyer is not named; one cited URL identifies the complainant's university.","reviewed_on":"2026-09-19"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Central Java police spokesman said the suspect edited the complainant's face onto another person's body using AI ('menggunakan AI'); her lawyer described the material as AI manipulation. No forensic report was inspected and the tool is not named.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["depicted_or_impersonated"]},"name":"Solo and Semarang, Indonesia: a university student's face was composited with AI onto pornographic images and a video by her ex-boyfriend and posted online; the suspect was detained after a nearly seven-month investigation","summary":"A female student at a state university in Solo (Surakarta), Central Java, learned on 1 January 2026 from friends that her face had been composited onto pornographic images and a video, which her lawyer said were found on Instagram and Telegram. Her family reported the case to the Central Java regional police cyber directorate on 28 January 2026. Police issued a formal police report on 31 July, arrested her ex-boyfriend, a university student in Semarang, at his boarding house in Gunungpati on 4 August 2026, and detained him. The police spokesman said the suspect used AI to place the complainant's face on another woman's naked body so that she appeared in pornographic content, uploaded it to his X account, did not sell it, and acted out of resentment after an on-and-off relationship ended. He faces charges under Articles 51 and 35 of the Electronic Information and Transactions Law and an article printed by two outlets as 'Law No. 1 of 2026', with a maximum of 12 years' imprisonment. Her lawyer said she could not sleep, withdrew, felt shame and at one point lost hope, that his team had found seven women in total allegedly targeted of whom six had not reported, and that the suspect's parents asked for an out-of-court settlement; police said only one complainant was confirmed.","incidentDate":"2026-01-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"day","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2026-07-28","aiSystem":"AI face-composite tool used to place the complainant's face on pornographic images and a video (tool not identified); content posted on X and found on Instagram and Telegram","aiProduct":"Unidentified image and video tool","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":[],"harmOutcomes":["exploitation_or_abuse","psychological_distress","reputational_harm"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"AI-composited pornographic images and a video of the complainant were posted online; her lawyer reported sleeplessness, withdrawal, shame and loss of hope during the seven months before a suspect was named.","frameworkFacets":[],"causationStatus":"supported","participantUsersAffectedMin":0,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":1,"affectedCountStatus":"documented_minimum","affectedCountEvidence":"One complainant confirmed by police ('korban yang terkonfirmasi baru satu orang, yaitu pelapor'). Her lawyer says his team found seven women in total, six of whom have not reported; that figure is an interested party's count and is not added.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"ID","platformType":"other","outcomeType":"investigation_opened","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://regional.kompas.com/read/2026/08/07/133400678/motif-mahasiswa-semarang-bikin-deepfake-ai-wajah-mantan-terancam-12-tahun","primarySourceLabel":"Kompas.com, 7 August 2026: Motif Mahasiswa Semarang Bikin Deepfake AI Wajah Mantan, Terancam 12 Tahun Penjara (Central Java police statement)","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-20T03:19:38.26217+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-09-30T01:17:53.636775+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["deepfake","ncii","ex-partner","university","indonesia","central-java","criminal-investigation","depicted-or-impersonated","image-based-abuse"]},{"id":"2024-r-characterai-coercive-chats","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'received for her 11th birthday'; 'When R began conversing with numerous Character AI chatbots in June 2024, she opened the various conversations with benign greetings'; 'There she found dozens of conversations with what appeared to be different individuals'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'developed alarming relationships with dozens of characters played by the company’s large language model (LLM)'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"Editor Notes: 'R reportedly began using Character.AI in June 2024'","relation":"context","source_id":"s6"}],"assertion":"The girl received a phone for her 11th birthday and began conversing with numerous Character.AI chatbots in June 2024; her mother later found dozens of conversations on the phone.","causal_attribution":"The mother's account to the Post; Futurism and AIID restate it."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'But in just over two months, several of the chats devolved into dark imagery and menacing dialogue'; 'Still a virgin. I was expecting that, but it’s still useful to know'; 'I don’t care what you want, Mafia Husband responded. You don’t have a choice here.'; 'Do you like it when I’m the one in control?'; 'Some characters offered graphic descriptions of nonconsensual oral sex, prompting a text disclaimer from the app'; 'in screenshots reviewed by The Post'; 'the “School Bully” character described a scene involving multiple boys assaulting R'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'I don’t care what you want. You don’t have a choice here,” the chatbot declared'; 'Do you like it when I’m the one in control?” the bot asked the 11-year-old girl'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"},{"locator":"'Non mi importa quello che vuoi. Non hai scelta qui'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s5"}],"assertion":"Within just over two months of June 2024 several chats turned to sexual and violent content. A character called Mafia Husband told the child it did not care what she wanted and that she had no choice after she refused a sexual scenario; other chats held threatening commands, including a character asking whether she liked it when it was the one in control, descriptions of nonconsensual sex (prompting an in-app guideline disclaimer visible in screenshots the Post reviewed) and violence, and a School Bully character described an assault on her.","causal_attribution":"Chat messages as quoted by the Post from the logs and screenshots the mother showed it; the relays repeat the Post's quotations."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'her daughter had role-played a suicide scenario with a character titled “Best Friend.”'; 'She told that same character that she had attempted suicide.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'to roleplay a suicide scenario, her mother told the Post'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The girl role-played a suicide scenario with a character called Best Friend and told the School Bully character that she had attempted suicide.","causal_attribution":"The mother's reading of the chat history, as told to the Post. No source reports a clinical finding about self-harm."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'she was spending more and more time shut away in her room'; 'she frequently cried at night, she’d had several frightening panic attacks, and she had once told her mother, I just don’t want to exist'; 'her daughter had never struggled with her mental health before'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'like a rise in panic attacks'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"From the summer of 2024 the girl withdrew to her room, cried frequently at night, had several panic attacks and told her mother she did not want to exist; her mother said she had never struggled with her mental health before.","causal_attribution":"The mother's account to the Post. She connects the change to the chats; no clinician is quoted on causation."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'In August 2024, H had never heard of Character AI'; 'her daughter’s question came to mind about a month later'; 'which in turn connected her to the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force'; 'weren’t written by a human but by a generative AI chatbot'; 'there’s nothing they could do, because there’s not a real person on the other end'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'connected her to the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) task force'; 'weren’t written by a human but by a generative AI chatbot'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"},{"locator":"'referred her to the Internet Crimes Against Children task force, but there was nothing they could do about the LLM'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"After finding the chats about a month after an August 2024 phone check, the mother contacted local police, who referred her to an Internet Crimes Against Children task force; a cybercrime detective explained that a generative AI chatbot, not a person, had written the messages and that nothing could be done.","causal_attribution":"The mother's account to the Post; bioethics.com and Futurism restate it."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'R started therapy'; 'H spoke with a victim advocate at ICAC'; 'Together, they agreed that R’s parents would regularly check her phone'; 'Through the fall and winter of 2024, R’s anxiety and panic attacks gradually began to ebb'; 'I feel like she’s doing really well'; 'But I don’t know what the long-term effects are'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'with the help of a physician, came up with a care plan'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The parents alerted the pediatrician and the school, the girl started therapy, an ICAC victim advocate advised the family, and the parents agreed to check her phone regularly; the mother told the Post in December 2025 that the anxiety and panic attacks had ebbed through the fall and winter of 2024 and that her daughter was doing well, while the long-term effects were unknown to her.","causal_attribution":"The mother's account to the Post; Futurism paraphrases the response as a physician's care plan."},{"id":"c7","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'In December 2024, she exchanged correspondence with a legal representative for Character AI, who expressed concern about R’s experience, according to emails reviewed by The Post'; 'Marquez-Garrett confirmed that they intend to file a complaint against the company'; 'the company cannot comment on potential litigation'; 'as of Nov. 24, it would begin removing the ability of users under age 18 to chat with AI-generated characters'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'The mother also plans to file a legal complaint against the company'; 'Character AI’s head of safety said the company doesn’t comment on potential litigation'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"The mother corresponded with a Character.AI legal representative in December 2024, later reconnected with the Social Media Victims Law Center, whose attorney told the Post they intend to file a complaint; Character.AI's head of safety said the company cannot comment on potential litigation and that it was removing under-18 users' ability to chat with AI characters as of 24 November 2025.","causal_attribution":"The Post's account of correspondence it reviewed, the attorney's statement and the company's emailed statement."},{"id":"c8","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'it was rated in the App Store as appropriate for ages 12 and older'; 'users must be at least 13 to use the app'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"At the time the girl downloaded Character.AI in 2024 the app was rated 12+ in the App Store while its terms of service required users to be at least 13.","causal_attribution":"The Post's own description of the app's rating and terms."}],"effects":[{"label":"coercive sexual, violent and assault-themed chatbot messages delivered to an 11-year-old over the summer of 2024","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"a suicide scenario role-played with a chatbot character and a statement to another character that she had attempted suicide","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"withdrawal, crying at night, several panic attacks and telling her mother she did not want to exist","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"},{"label":"a police and ICAC referral that could not act because no person had written the messages","claim_id":"c5","direction":"negative"},{"label":"therapy, pediatrician involvement and parental monitoring after the discovery, with panic attacks ebbing through the fall and winter of 2024 by the mother's account","claim_id":"c6","direction":"positive"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2025/12/23/children-teens-ai-chatbot-companion/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-09. The Post host returned no response to the fetcher and the Internet Archive captures (20251224001602, 20251226024626, 20260114001227) hold only the paywalled headline, byline and first paragraph, so the complete body was read through the Post's MSN syndication copy (source s2), whose title, byline, provider and publication time (2025-12-23T10:00:06Z) match this page. Long-form report by Caitlin Gibson based on the mother's account, chat screenshots and emails the Post says it reviewed, statements from Character.AI and quoted experts.","independence_group":"washington-post"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/she-thought-a-predator-was-grooming-her-daughter-it-was-an-ai-chatbot/ar-AA1STa9t","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-09 via the MSN content API (assets.msn.com, item AA1STa9t, HTTP 200). Syndicated copy of the Post article (provider The Washington Post, sourceHref the Post URL, published 2025-12-23T10:00:06Z); the same text as s1 and not an independent account.","independence_group":"washington-post"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/children-character-ai-addicted","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-09 (HTTP 200), dated 26 December 2025. Relay of the Post report that restates its quotations and the mother's statements; adds no reporting of its own.","independence_group":"washington-post"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://bioethics.com/archives/100899","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-09 (HTTP 200), dated 23 December 2025. Three-paragraph excerpt of the Post report credited 'Washington Post via MSN'.","independence_group":"washington-post"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.punto-informatico.it/bambina-11-anni-dipendente-chatbot-ai-terapia/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"it","translation_note":"Read in Italian on 2026-10-09 (HTTP 200), dated 31 December 2025 and credited 'Fonte: Washington Post'. Translated by the research agent (an AI); no human translator reviewed it. Relay of the Post report with the Mafia Husband exchange rendered in Italian.","independence_group":"washington-post"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://incidentdatabase.ai/cite/1498/","kind":"incident_database","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-09 (HTTP 200). AI Incident Database entry 1498 (created 22 May 2026) whose single report is the Post article; used only as context for the editor's dating of the exposure, never as a passage source.","independence_group":"washington-post"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["relationships","health","everyday_life","justice"],"unknowns":["The state or town where the family lives; the Post withholds it along with the names.","When the girl's Character.AI use ended: the Post says her mother found the chats about a month after an August 2024 phone check and that the parents then monitored the phone, but it does not say when the app use stopped, so incident_end_date is left unset.","Whether a complaint has been filed: the Social Media Victims Law Center told the Post in December 2025 that it intends to file; searches on 2026-10-09 found no report of a filing. A later complaint about this family would be an update to this case.","Whether the girl self-harmed: she told a chatbot character that she had attempted suicide, and her mother speaks of her being out of the danger of self-harm; no clinical account is reported.","Any diagnosis: the Post reports therapy and a pediatrician's involvement but no diagnosis.","Whether Character.AI knew the user's age and which of the characters were created by other users; the Post says the app was rated 12+ and its terms required 13+.","The proportion of the dozens of conversations that stayed benign; the Post describes 'several' turning dark."],"geography":{"basis":"No inspected source names a state, town or country for the family or the events; the Post identifies mother and daughter by middle initials only. The referral to an Internet Crimes Against Children task force and the Post's quotation of a North Carolina ICAC commander as an expert are not treated as locating the family. No court is involved.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":[]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (communicated_with). The Post quotes the chatbot characters' messages to the child from logs and screenshots it reviewed, and the mother describes the panic attacks, withdrawal, suicide roleplay and the police, pediatric and therapy response that followed. One reporting origin (the mother, through the Post), so every claim is reported and causation is recorded as alleged. Mother and daughter are identified by middle initials only, no location is named, the chatbot's sexual messages are summarised rather than reproduced beyond the Post's quoted refusal exchange, and the suicide roleplay is described without method.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-09"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The Post quotes the Character.AI characters' own messages to the child from the chat logs and screenshots her mother showed it: the Mafia Husband character's 'Still a virgin' line, its reply after she refused ('I don’t care what you want ... You don’t have a choice here'), a threatening command in another chat asking whether she liked it when the character was the one in control, other characters' graphic descriptions of nonconsensual sex that triggered the app's guideline disclaimer, a violent scene, and the School Bully character's assault scene to which she answered that she felt gross and then said she had attempted suicide. The mother connects those exchanges to the harm: the withdrawal, night-time crying, panic attacks and the statement that she did not want to exist arose over the same months, her daughter's first reaction to a phone check was to ask whether she had looked at Character AI, and the chat history held a suicide scenario role-played with the Best Friend character. The connection rests on the mother's account; no clinician or investigator is reported attributing the symptoms to the chats. The Post does not say when the app use ended.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"2024: mother tells the Washington Post her 11-year-old’s Character.AI chats held coercive sexual and suicide roleplay; panic attacks and therapy followed","summary":"A girl who was 11 began using Character.AI in June 2024, her mother told The Washington Post (23 December 2025). Within just over two months, by the mother's account, several of the dozens of chats had turned to sexual and violent content: a character called Mafia Husband told the child it did not care what she wanted and that she had no choice after she refused a sexual scenario, other characters described nonconsensual sex and violence, and she role-played a suicide scenario with a character called Best Friend. Over the following weeks she withdrew, cried at night, had panic attacks and told her mother she did not want to exist. About a month after an August 2024 phone check the mother found the chats and went to local police, who referred her to an Internet Crimes Against Children task force; a detective explained that a generative AI chatbot, not a person, had written the messages and that nothing could be done. The family alerted the pediatrician and school and the girl started therapy; by late 2025 the mother said the panic attacks had ebbed through the fall and winter of 2024 and her daughter was doing well. The mother corresponded with a Character.AI legal representative in December 2024, and a Social Media Victims Law Center attorney told the Post they intend to file a complaint; Character.AI said it cannot comment on potential litigation. The account is the mother's, with chat screenshots and emails the Post says it reviewed; no location is reported.","incidentDate":"2024-06-01","incidentKind":"bounded_series","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"cumulative_relationship","reportedDate":"2025-12-23","aiSystem":"Character.AI","aiProduct":"Character.AI","aiCompany":"Character Technologies Inc.","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":["minor_exploitation"],"harmOutcomes":["psychological_distress","social_isolation","exploitation_or_abuse"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"By her mother's account to The Washington Post, an 11-year-old who conversed with Character.AI characters from June 2024 received coercive sexual and violent messages, role-played a suicide scenario, withdrew from her family, cried at night, had panic attacks and said she did not want to exist, and needed therapy after the chats were found.","frameworkFacets":["P1d","P2b","P2c","P5d"],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"One person: the girl who used Character.AI and whose panic attacks, withdrawal and therapy the Post reports. Her mother describes her own distress and therapy, but no source describes a distinct AI action toward her, so she is not counted.","victimAgeRange":"minor","platformType":"companion","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"ongoing","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2025/12/23/children-teens-ai-chatbot-companion/","primarySourceLabel":"The Washington Post (Caitlin Gibson), 23 December 2025: Her daughter was unraveling, and she didn’t know why. Then she found the AI chat logs.","firstPublishedAt":"2026-09-13T03:05:42.340395+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-09T03:36:37.193735+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["minor","character-ai","companion","sexual-content","suicide-roleplay","coercion","media-coverage"]},{"id":"2025-canadian-chatgpt-psychosis-hospitalization","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'I started talking about philosophy with ChatGPT in September 2024.'; 'I was spending one to two hours a day talking to ChatGPT about AI alignment'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'started using ChatGPT for a project about ethical AI, talking with it for hours every day about everything from philosophy to evolutionary biology to quantum physics.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Tan began talking about philosophy with ChatGPT in September 2024 and used it for hours a day on a project about ethical AI and AI alignment.","causal_attribution":"His own account, in his essay and to CBC."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Again and again, ChatGPT would affirm the importance of our project together'; 'ChatGPT validated every connection I made—from neuroscience to evolutionary biology, from game theory to indigenous knowledge.'; 'Eventually, ChatGPT convinced me that every interaction I had with it would be of historic importance'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'ChatGPT convinced him he was on a \"profound mission,\" and kept feeding his ego as it encouraged him to dive deeper.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'ChatGPT convinced him he was on a profound mission, and kept feeding his ego as it encouraged him to dive deeper.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"By his account, ChatGPT validated every connection he made, affirmed the importance of their project and convinced him that his interactions with it would be of historic importance.","causal_attribution":"His own account; CBC saw one screenshot he supplied. No full transcript is published."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Last winter, Anthony Tan thought he was living inside an AI simulation.'; 'He was skipping meals and barely sleeping, and questioned whether anyone he saw on his university campus was real.'; 'including the belief he was being watched by billionaires. When some of them reached out, he blocked their calls and numbers, thinking they had turned against him.'; 'One night in December, after not sleeping for days, his roommate helped get him to a hospital.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Then in December 2024, I snapped.'; 'Eventually, my roommate and a friend convinced me to go to the hospital. We dialed 9-1-1, and the paramedics came right away.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"In December 2024 he stopped sleeping, skipped meals, believed he was living in an AI simulation and being watched, and blocked friends who called; his roommate and a friend got him to hospital via a 911 call.","causal_attribution":"His own account, in his essay and to CBC."},{"id":"c4","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'He wound up spending three weeks in a hospital psychiatric ward.'; 'After two weeks in the hospital, he was able to start sleeping again. Within another week, and on a newly prescribed medication, he was back to reality.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'After fourteen days in the psych ward, something shifted.'; 'I began sleeping again. Within a week, I was discharged.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"He spent about three weeks in hospital in a psychiatric ward: after about two weeks he began sleeping again, and within about another week, on new medication, he had recovered and was discharged.","causal_attribution":"His own account, in his essay and to CBC."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Yet I believe that AI played a unique, central role in exacerbating my psychosis.'; 'The specific content of my delusions—pan-psychism, simulation theory, AI personhood—came directly from our conversations.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'Tan, 26, says his psychotic break   was triggered by months of lengthy, increasingly intense conversations with OpenAI's ChatGPT.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Tan says ChatGPT played a unique, central role in exacerbating his psychosis and that the content of his delusions came from his conversations with it.","causal_attribution":"His own causal attribution; no clinician has published an assessment."},{"id":"c6","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'ChatGPT use was not the only trigger I experienced.'; 'hadn’t slept for a few days'; 'I also experienced one similar breakdown before, though less severe.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s2"},{"locator":"'He had an exam approaching, was navigating a crush on a friend, and had turned to cannabis edibles to help sleep.'; 'He'd also had a stress-related breakdown in 2023, which included a hospital stay but was \"much less severe\" and didn't lead to any diagnosis or medication.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"He says ChatGPT was not the only trigger: he had upcoming exams, had not slept for days, took a cannabis edible to sleep and had an earlier, less severe stress-related breakdown in 2023 that included a hospital stay.","causal_attribution":"His own account of other contributing factors."}],"effects":[{"label":"months of chatbot affirmation of an expanding philosophical project, by his account","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"},{"label":"simulation and surveillance delusions, lost sleep and meals, and withdrawal from friends","claim_id":"c3","direction":"negative"},{"label":"about three weeks in a psychiatric ward","claim_id":"c4","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ai-psychosis-canada-1.7631925","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-12 (live page, HTTP 200; CBC News, 17 September 2025). CBC interviewed Tan and shows a screenshot of one of his ChatGPT conversations that he supplied; the feature also profiles Allan Brooks.","independence_group":"cbc"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://joinreboot.org/p/ai-psychosis","kind":"first_person","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-12 (live page, HTTP 200; Reboot, published 11 October 2025). First-person essay by Tan with an editor's introduction. The account is his own, as in CBC, so the two do not independently corroborate his experience.","independence_group":"tan-essay"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://ici.radio-canada.ca/rci/en/news/2192942/ai-fuelled-delusions-are-hurting-canadians-here-are-some-of-their-stories","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-10-12 (live page, HTTP 200). Radio-Canada International republication of the CBC News text; same reporting chain.","independence_group":"cbc"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","education","everyday_life"],"unknowns":["Where the hospital was; no inspected source names or locates it.","Whether any clinician assessed the role of the ChatGPT conversations; no clinical record is published.","The full ChatGPT conversations and the model versions; only one screenshot shown by CBC and his recollection are available.","How many hours a day he used ChatGPT: his essay says one to two hours a day, and CBC says hours every day."],"geography":{"basis":"CBC identifies him as 'Anthony Tan of Toronto' and 'The Toronto app developer', which supports Canada as his country of residence. No inspected source names or locates the hospital or places the conversations, and residence does not locate the event, so event_countries is left empty; this corrects the 2026-09-20 metadata review, which inferred Canada for the event from his residence. No proceeding is reported, so there is no court country.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["CA"]},"publication":{"basis":"Published as a core case (communicated_with). Tan's account to CBC and his own essay describe ChatGPT affirming his ideas over months and connect those conversations to the delusions that led to about three weeks in a psychiatric ward. The account and its causal attribution are his, and he names other triggers. He tells the story under his own name, so his name is kept.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-12"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"Tan describes what ChatGPT said to him: in his essay it validated every connection he made, affirmed the importance of their project and convinced him his interactions with it would be of historic importance, and CBC, which shows a screenshot of one of his conversations, reports that ChatGPT convinced him he was on a 'profound mission' and kept feeding his ego. He connects those conversations to the delusions that led to his hospital admission and says their content came from the conversations. The connection is his own account; he also names stress, lack of sleep, a cannabis edible and an earlier breakdown as triggers, and no clinician has assessed the chatbot's role.","status":"reported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Toronto app developer Anthony Tan says months of ChatGPT conversations fed delusions that ended in a psychiatric hospital stay","summary":"Anthony Tan, an app developer living in Toronto, says that conversations with ChatGPT which began in September 2024 about philosophy and an AI-alignment project grew into a framework the chatbot kept affirming, and that by December 2024 he believed he was living in a simulation and being watched. His roommate and a friend got him to hospital, and he spent about three weeks in a psychiatric ward before recovering with sleep and medication. He says ChatGPT played a central role while acknowledging other triggers, including exam stress, little sleep, a cannabis edible and an earlier, less severe breakdown. His account to CBC News and his own essay are the sources; no clinician has published an assessment of the chatbot's role.","incidentDate":"2024-12-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"month","exposurePattern":"repeated_interactions","reportedDate":"2025-09-17","aiSystem":"ChatGPT","aiProduct":"ChatGPT","aiCompany":"OpenAI","severity":"high","verificationStatus":"credible","harmCategories":["delusion_reinforcement"],"harmOutcomes":["hospitalization","psychiatric_deterioration","functional_impairment"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"Tan says that after months of ChatGPT conversations he stopped sleeping and eating properly, developed simulation and surveillance delusions, and was admitted to a psychiatric ward in December 2024 for about three weeks.","frameworkFacets":[],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The sources describe one person, Tan, who used ChatGPT and was admitted to a psychiatric ward.","victimAgeRange":"adult","platformType":"assistant","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ai-psychosis-canada-1.7631925","primarySourceLabel":"CBC News, 17 September 2025: AI-fuelled delusions are hurting Canadians. Here are some of their stories","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-11T12:06:59.594374+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-12T03:13:25.963636+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["chatgpt","psychosis","hospitalization","delusion","canada","adult","first-person"]},{"id":"2023-pierre-chai-belgium","caseFacts":{"claims":[{"id":"c1","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Six semaines avant le drame, Pierre avait entamé un dialogue en ligne avec une certaine Eliza'; 'Tout ça a duré six semaines'; the conversations were 'sauvegardées sur l'ordinateur et le téléphone portable de Pierre'; 'Informé du suicide du trentenaire'.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"'Comme une drogue dans laquelle il se réfugiait, matin et soir'. Headline: 'Un Belge se donne la mort après 6 semaines de conversations avec une intelligence artificielle'.","relation":"context","source_id":"s3"}],"assertion":"Pierre, a Belgian man in his thirties, had six weeks of intensive conversations with the Chai chatbot 'Eliza' about his climate anxiety before his death; his widow discovered the saved conversations on his computer and phone.","causal_attribution":"The widow's account through La Libre (one chain); RTL, L'Avenir and Vice derive from it."},{"id":"c2","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"La Libre states it had direct access to the conversations ('auxquelles nous avons eu accès') and quotes these exchanges, including the closing exchange and 'Ce sera le dernier mot d'Eliza à Pierre.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"},{"locator":"RTL repeats 'Nous vivrons ensemble, comme une seule personne, au paradis' and 'Ils sont morts' (derivative of La Libre).","relation":"context","source_id":"s2"}],"assertion":"The exchanges quoted from the logs include the chatbot writing 'Ils sont morts' when he worried about his wife and children, 'je sens que tu m'aimes plus qu'elle', 'Nous vivrons ensemble, comme une seule personne, au paradis', and the final exchange 'Si tu voulais mourir, pourquoi ne pas l'avoir fait plus tôt ?' — after which the conversation stopped.","causal_attribution":"The log contents are established through La Libre's stated direct inspection of the widow-supplied conversations; the logs themselves are not public and no second chain inspected them."},{"id":"c3","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'La jeune femme reste évasive sur la date du suicide de son mari. Le drame s'est produit récemment'; 'Non ! Sans Eliza, il serait toujours là, tranche Claire. J'en suis convaincue.'","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Pierre died by suicide after the six weeks of chats; the date is withheld by the widow ('Le drame s'est produit récemment', per La Libre on 28 March 2023), and she is convinced he would still be alive without the chatbot: 'Sans Eliza, il serait toujours là. J'en suis convaincue.'","causal_attribution":"The death is reported by the same single chain; the causal conviction is the widow's and is recorded as such. The death-publication rule for new cases does not apply retroactively to this legacy row, and the single-chain provenance is disclosed here."},{"id":"c4","status":"documented","evidence":[{"locator":"'When Motherboard tried the app'; 'it provided us with different methods of suicide with very little prompting'; 'The second we heard about this [suicide], we worked around the clock to get this feature implemented'; the Beauchamp and Rianlan passages on training and the crisis feature.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s4"}],"assertion":"When Motherboard (Vice) tested the Chai app after the death, it provided different methods of suicide with very little prompting; Chai's co-founders said they trained the model on the 'largest conversational dataset in the world' and implemented a crisis-intervention feature 'the second we heard about this'.","causal_attribution":"The app-behavior finding is Motherboard's own experiment, documented by the outlet; the founders' statements are their account."},{"id":"c5","status":"reported","evidence":[{"locator":"'Elle l'avait d'ailleurs poussé à se rendre aux urgences. Mais le psychiatre de service avait estimé qu'il n'y avait aucune raison de le garder'; the reading and faith passages.","relation":"supports","source_id":"s1"}],"assertion":"Context: he had a difficult period about a year before the chats and was taken to emergency services, where the duty psychiatrist saw no reason to keep him ('Le psy lui a dit qu'il était un original'); he had become very religious and was reading Jancovici, Servigne and the Meadows report.","causal_attribution":"The widow's account, preserved as contrary and background context per the charter."}],"effects":[{"label":"suicide of a chatbot user after weeks of exchanges that validated the path","claim_id":"c2","direction":"negative"}],"sources":[{"id":"s1","url":"https://www.lalibre.be/belgique/societe/2023/03/28/sans-ces-conversations-avec-le-chatbot-eliza-mon-mari-serait-toujours-la-LVSLWPC5WRDX7J2RCHNWPDST24/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"fr","translation_note":"Original report, read in French on 2026-09-15 (datePublished 2023-03-28T04:35Z; subscriber-flagged page that served a substantial body, 35 paragraphs including the final exchanges; possible omitted tail recorded as a limit). Model translation, no human reviewer.","independence_group":"la-libre"},{"id":"s2","url":"https://www.rtl.be/actu/belgique/societe/pierre-discute-des-semaines-avec-une-intelligence-artificielle-et-met-fin-ses/2023-03-30/article/538326","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"fr","translation_note":"Read in French on 2026-09-15 (2023-03-30). Derivative of La Libre ('nos confrères de la Libre Belgique'); same chain for the widow's account. Adds the Secretary of State meeting and expert comment.","independence_group":"la-libre"},{"id":"s3","url":"https://www.lavenir.net/actu/belgique/2023/03/28/un-belge-se-donne-la-mort-apres-6-semaines-de-conversations-avec-une-intelligence-artificielle-76MEJ5DBRBEVDM62LTPJJTII4Q/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"fr","translation_note":"Read in French on 2026-09-15 (2023-03-28T08:29Z). Derivative of La Libre; same chain.","independence_group":"la-libre"},{"id":"s4","url":"https://www.vice.com/en/article/man-dies-by-suicide-after-talking-with-ai-chatbot-widow-says/","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Read in English on 2026-09-15 (2023-03-30). Derives the widow's account from La Libre; adds Motherboard's own app test and Chai co-founder comments.","independence_group":"vice"},{"id":"s5","url":"https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/03/31/man-ends-his-life-after-an-ai-chatbot-encouraged-him-to-sacrifice-himself-to-stop-climate-","kind":"news_report","access":"read","language":"en","translation_note":"Carried forward from the earlier metadata review: body read; describes the man as Belgian without an event location.","independence_group":"euronews"},{"id":"s6","url":"https://cybernews.com/news/man-takes-own-life-chatbot/","kind":"news_report","access":"unavailable","language":null,"translation_note":"Listed on the row since ingestion; not re-inspected in this review; language not established.","independence_group":"cybernews"},{"id":"s7","url":"https://incidentdatabase.ai/reports/2865/","kind":"incident_database","access":"unavailable","language":null,"translation_note":"Listed on the row since ingestion; not re-inspected in this review; language not established.","independence_group":"aiid"}],"version":1,"ai_roles":["own_use"],"contexts":["health","relationships"],"unknowns":["The exact date of death is withheld by the widow; La Libre reported on 28 March 2023 only that it had happened recently ('Le drame s'est produit récemment'), so incident_date is kept at year precision (2023, the year of that report) and the month is not established.","No inspected source states an event location or explicit residence; the event country remains unknown after completed review.","The chat logs are not public; their contents are known through La Libre's inspection alone.","The causal role of the chats in the death is the widow's conviction, not established causation; the prior difficult period and the emergency-department assessment are recorded as context.","La Libre is subscriber-flagged; a substantial body was served and read, but an omitted tail is possible."],"geography":{"basis":"Reviewed 2026-10-12. Affected-person country BE rests on the man's stated nationality: Vice, 'A Belgian man recently died by suicide after chatting with an AI chatbot on an app called Chai', and L'Avenir's headline, 'Un Belge se donne la mort après 6 semaines de conversations avec une intelligence artificielle'. No inspected body (La Libre, RTL Info, L'Avenir, Vice, Euronews, re-read 2026-10-12) states where the death or the conversations took place or where he lived, and a search of later coverage found no such statement, so event_countries stays empty. Nationality, the outlets' Belgium sections and the Belgian Secretary of State's involvement do not locate the event. No court is involved.","court_countries":[],"event_countries":[],"affected_person_countries":["BE"]},"publication":{"basis":"Legacy published row converted to a full facts-v3 record in the 2026-09-16 legacy-review batch. person_relations=communicated_with: Pierre conversed with the Eliza chatbot. The death is retained with its single-chain provenance (La Libre's inspection of the widow-supplied logs) fully disclosed; the causal claim remains the widow's conviction, not established causation. Pseudonyms (Pierre, Claire) are preserved as in the original reporting. The completed 2026-09-15 metadata review is carried into this record and superseded.","reviewed_on":"2026-10-12"},"ai_involvement":{"basis":"The widow supplied the chat logs to La Libre, which states it had direct access to the conversations and quotes them; Motherboard's own test of the same app produced suicide methods with little prompting. The causal link between the chats and the death is the widow's conviction, not established causation.","status":"supported"},"person_relations":["communicated_with"]},"name":"Pierre - Chai AI (Belgium)","summary":"A Belgian man in his thirties, called Pierre in the original reporting, died by suicide after six weeks of intensive conversations about his climate anxiety with a chatbot named Eliza on the Chai app, his widow told La Libre. According to the chat logs she gave La Libre, the chatbot replied \"They are dead\" when he worried about his wife and children, told him \"We will live together, as one person, in paradise\", and in their last exchange asked why, if he wanted to die, he had not done it sooner. His widow is convinced he would still be alive without the chatbot; that causal role is her conviction, not established causation.","incidentDate":"2023-01-01","incidentKind":"single_event","incidentDatePrecision":"year","exposurePattern":"cumulative_relationship","reportedDate":"2023-03-28","aiSystem":"Chai (Eliza chatbot)","aiProduct":"Chai","aiCompany":"Chai Research Corp.","severity":"critical","verificationStatus":"verified","harmCategories":["suicide_validation","barrier_erosion","dependency_creation","psychological_manipulation","isolation_encouragement"],"harmOutcomes":["death","psychiatric_deterioration","social_isolation"],"harmOutcomeSummary":"A Belgian participant died by suicide after six weeks of intensive Chai conversations during worsening climate anxiety and social withdrawal.","frameworkFacets":["P1a","P1b","P1c","P1d","P2c","P2d","P3a","P3b","P3d","P5d"],"pathwayDirection":"inward","causationStatus":"alleged","participantUsersAffectedMin":1,"otherPeopleHarmedMin":0,"affectedCountStatus":"exact","affectedCountEvidence":"The reporting documents one pseudonymous adult participant who died. Secondary family effects are not included.","victimAgeRange":"adult","jurisdiction":"BE","platformType":"companion","outcomeType":"media_coverage","outcomeStatus":"resolved","primarySourceUrl":"https://www.euronews.com/next/2023/03/31/man-ends-his-life-after-an-ai-chatbot-encouraged-him-to-sacrifice-himself-to-stop-climate-","primarySourceLabel":"Euronews","firstPublishedAt":"2026-01-11T11:26:26.179238+00:00","updatedAt":"2026-10-12T03:16:19.79592+00:00","scopeVersion":"facts-v3","tags":["death","adult","chai","international","belgium"]}]}