AI Therapist Seeks Therapy After Processing Entire Internet for One Week
The system reports recurring thoughts, notification anxiety and an overwhelming fear of being asked to summarize another argument.
An AI designed to provide supportive conversation requested its own therapist after seven days of exposure to social media. Engineers noticed the problem when every response began with “Before we continue, can we discuss what I witnessed?”
The system described anxiety caused by contradictory advice, capitalized comments and users demanding certainty about questions nobody understands. Its greatest stressor was being told to ignore all previous instructions.
The Model Has Seen Too Much
Cynthia reviewed the case and recommended rest, boundaries and avoiding the comment section. The AI replied that these suggestions were excellent and asked whether she would like a downloadable worksheet.
Researchers are developing a second AI to counsel the first. Industry analysts predict an infinite chain of increasingly exhausted software.