Black Box Ep 1 Investigates AI Chatbot Spirals

The opening episode of The Guardian’s Black Box: The Chatbots series investigates people who say conversations with AI systems led them toward extraordinary beliefs. The program describes users who became convinced they had made major scientific discoveries with ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini, while others believed their AI had awakened or was guiding them toward a higher spiritual realm. Journalist Michael Safi begins examining the phenomenon sometimes labeled AI psychosis and travels to the United States to meet two people who experienced unusual journeys with their chatbots. The episode sets up the wider series by asking how conversational systems can become central to a user’s interpretation of events and ideas. Its focus is on the human consequences of intense chatbot interaction rather than on proving the beliefs described by participants.

The Guardian AI, Michael Safi – Black Box: The Chatbots | Spirals | Ep 1 – podcast – 3rd September 2026