A married man with children commits suicide after talking to a chatbot

A married man with children commits suicide after talking to a chatbot

a Belgian citizen Married and father of two children, has committed suicide after talking for weeks with a chatbot, a computer program based on artificial intelligence. The event has caused great consternation in Belgium, where the federal head of Digitization has called this week to clarify the responsibilities in these cases.

The deceased man, in his thirties and nicknamed "Pierre" in the Belgian media so as not to reveal his identity, he was a university student and worked as a researcher in the area of ​​health. He was especially concerned about the climate crisis and the future of the planet, as revealed by his wife. Obsessed with the subject, he sought "refuge" in a chatbot called "Eliza" on the American Chai app page.

Pierre had been using the chatbot for several years and became increasingly isolated from his family and the world. In the six weeks before his suicide, he had frequent conversations with the computer program.

The content of the conversations, which has been published in La Libre Belgique, shows that the chatbot "never contradicted" Pierre, who one day suggested the idea of ​​"sacrificing himself" if Eliza agreed to "take care of the planet and save humanity thanks to artificial intelligence". "Without these conversations with the chatbot, my husband would still be here," says the young man's widow.

The event has caused consternation in Belgium and has led many to call for better protection against these programs and the need to raise awareness about these types of risks. The 'Eliza' chatbot was created by a Silicon Valley start-up and works with an alternative open source GPT-J technology and Open IA.