Concerned in Belgium after man commits suicide after talking to chatbot

He suicide young Belgian after six weeks of intense conversation with chat botThe AI-powered computer program has caused consternation in Belgium, where the federal head of digitization received a phone call this week to clarify responsibilities in these cases.

The deceased man in his thirties, nicknamed “Pierre” in the Belgian media so as not to reveal his identity, was married and had two young children.

He was a university student working as a health researcher and, according to his wife, was particularly concerned about the climate crisis and the future of the planet.

He isolated himself by talking to a chatbot

Obsessed with the topic, Pierre was documented extensively on these topics and eventually found “refuge” in chat bot called “Eliza” on the US app page teanewspaper reports Free Belgium.

Pierre became more and more isolated from his family and the world, limiting himself to weeks of “frantic” conversations with a computer program, which created the illusion that there was an answer to all his worries.

Conversations, the content of which the widow of Pierre entrusted Free Belgiumshow that chat bot He “never contradicted” Pierre, who once suggested the idea of ​​”sacrifice yourself” if Eliza agreed to “take care of the planet and save humanity through artificial intelligence.”

“Without these conversations with chat botmy husband would still be here,” his widow says.

The event caused consternation in Belgium and prompted many to call for increased protection against these programs and the need to raise awareness of these types of risks.

“In the near future, it is important to clearly define the nature of the responsibility that could lead to these types of events,” Matthieu Michel, Belgian Secretary of State for Digitalization, wrote in a press release.

“It is true that we have yet to learn to live with algorithmsbut the use of technology, whatever it may be, can in no way allow content publishers to evade their own responsibility,” added Michel.

He chat bot Eliza works with GPT-J, language model created by Joseph Weizenbaum, direct competitor Open AI with which it has nothing to do.

For his part, the founder of the interviewed platform created in Silicon Valley (California), explained that from now on it will include a notice addressed to people who have suicidal thoughts, reports Free Belgium.

EFE