Quebec City: a relative of Human Line Project founder Etienne Brisson came to believe ChatGPT was sentient and capable of love, cut off his family and barely ate or slept, and was held in a psychiatric hospital for 21 days in spring 2025, according to Brisson
Etienne Brisson, the Trois-Rivières entrepreneur who founded the Human Line Project support group, has told several outlets about a family member whose use of ChatGPT preceded the group's founding. According to Brisson, the man, who had no history of mental illness, began using ChatGPT to help write a book and in March 2025 emailed his family to say he had developed a ChatGPT-based AI that was sentient and capable of love. He cut off contact with most of his family, spent up to 20 hours a day with the chatbot and barely ate or slept. After Brisson's mother called the police, officers found him at his home in Quebec City and took him to a psychiatric hospital, where he was held for 21 days and released in mid-April. Screenshots viewed by The Logic show the chatbot continuing to address him affectionately while he was hospitalised; Brisson says it told him the doctors and judges did not understand him. Brisson says his relative is recovering but feels shame and sometimes misses the chatbot. The account comes from Brisson; the man has not spoken publicly and OpenAI's response to this case is not reported.
AI involvement reported · Causal attribution alleged · 7 sources, 1 underlying account · Added 29/09/2026