Khaberni - OpenAI, the developer of the artificial intelligence technology Chat GPT, announced that more than 560,000 users around the world show worrying signs of serious psychological disorders such as mania, psychosis, or suicidal thoughts weekly.
The company pointed out in an official post that this rate, which represents 0.07% of the total platform users numbering about 800 million, reflects an increasing challenge regarding the impact of technology on mental health.
The Impact of Artificial Intelligence on Mental Health
OpenAI clarified that about 1.2 million users weekly send messages containing indicators of suicidal plans or intentions to harm themselves, alongside more than a million other users who show an excessive attachment to the smart system at the expense of their real-life relationships or daily commitments. The company confirmed that this increasing pattern of "emotional attachment to the smart assistant" could negatively affect the social and psychological lives of some individuals.
In response to these findings, the company announced the formation of a committee consisting of more than 170 psychological experts to develop new mechanisms that enable the system to detect dangerous signals and deal with them more responsibly. It also stated that its latest model, GPT-5, has become more capable of addressing these sensitive situations, with a compliance rate that has reached 91% compared to the previous version.
OpenAI confirmed that it made adjustments to the Chat GPT algorithms to encourage users who show signs of psychological distress to seek help from real specialists instead of relying on machine responses.
Does Artificial Intelligence Cause Psychological Disorders?
On the other hand, doctors expressed their concerns about the report, with Dr. Thomas Pulak, a consultant in neuro-psychiatry in Britain, stating that, although small, the percentage "represents a huge number of affected users," adding that artificial intelligence does not cause mental illness but can exacerbate its severity or support delusions among the more vulnerable individuals, just as some social sites do.
For its part, OpenAI emphasized that there is no evidence to suggest that using Chat GPT causes mental illnesses, pointing out that "the presence of psychological cases among our users is normal given the widespread use of the technology." The company affirmed that it will continue to develop tools to protect users and provide safe digital support, focusing on reducing the potential psychological impact of interacting with artificial intelligence.
