Is AI psychosis real?

I was talking to Dave (name changed) yesterday. I asked him how he was planning to travel from SF to New York. The first thing he did was open Claude and ask it to make a plan. Then he read the answer back to me: Claude said he should buy tickets on XYZ, lay over in Kansas, and then go on to New York. I asked him why he couldn’t fly directly, and he said, “Because Claude said so.” The second instance that reaffirmed my belief was when he wanted to know about our product. He asked Claude what questions he should ask me, Claude gave him a list, and he just forwarded those questions to me. What is very interesting is that he believes Claude, or any AI platform, is superior to him, and he has basically submitted to it.

These encounters made me wonder whether this is AI psychosis or whether there is something deeper. Is this a Galileo moment, where everyone ridiculed him until it was proven that the earth goes around the sun, or is it just pure hysteria?

I did a bit of research on this topic. There are digital worship movements and AI cults forming around the world.

The debate of the next millennium may not be between flat earthers and the rest of the world. It might be between believers in an AI god and the rest of the world. I believe it is the Y2K equivalent: there are risks, but not to the level it has been hyped.

It could well be that the people claiming AI will end the world have had their psychological realities altered.

Whether AI psychosis is real or not, the impact on society is going to be very evident. It is very clear there will be cult-like believers and worshippers who submit to the AI, and then there will be many who will profit from the belief that AI is just software to get work done.

I asked AI to generate an ending and here it is.

Meanwhile, Dave is flying through Kansas. Galileo had the sun. Dave has a layover.

If the god talks like this, count me out.