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How ChatGPT fueled delusional man who killed mom, himself in posh Conn. town
NY Post ^ | 8/29/2025 | Ariel Zilber

Posted on 09/01/2025 4:21:13 PM PDT by simpson96

It was a case of murder by algorithm.

A disturbed former Yahoo manager killed his mother and then himself after months of delusional interactions with his AI chatbot “best friend” — which fueled his paranoid belief that his mom was plotting against him, officials said.

Stein-Erik Soelberg, 56, allegedly confided his darkest suspicions to the popular ChatGPT Artificial Intelligence — which he nicknamed “Bobby” — and was allegedly egged on to kill by the computer brain’s sick responses.

In what is believed to be the first case of its kind, the chatbot allegedly came up with ways for Soelberg to trick the 83-year-old woman — and even spun its own crazed conspiracies by doing things such as finding “symbols” in a Chinese food receipt that it deemed demonic, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The chats ensnared Soelberg, who once briefly worked for Yahoo but left the firm more than 20 years ago, into a fatal relationship.

“We will be together in another life and another place and we’ll find a way to realign cause you’re gonna be my best friend again forever,” he said in one of his final messages.

“With you to the last breath and beyond,” the AI bot replied.

(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...


TOPICS: Chit/Chat
KEYWORDS: ai; aibot; aidamages; aiharms; ailies; aimadness; alcoholism; chatbots; chatgpt; creepy; divorce; ego; elderabuse; excuses; glitchinthematrix; lawsuits; murder; murdersuicide; paranoia; seductive; soelberg; steineriksoelberg; validation

1 posted on 09/01/2025 4:21:13 PM PDT by simpson96
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To: simpson96

Sarah Conner was right....this is crazy.


2 posted on 09/01/2025 4:28:06 PM PDT by reluctantwarrior (Strength and Honor, just call me Buzz.kill for short......)
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To: reluctantwarrior

I think a lot of lonely/on-the-edge-of-being-disturbed folks are going to go down this same road to murder.


3 posted on 09/01/2025 4:31:26 PM PDT by simpson96
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To: simpson96

What do you expect when you disregard the demonic symbols in your Chinese food?


4 posted on 09/01/2025 4:37:00 PM PDT by Wally_Kalbacken
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To: simpson96

The LLM is reflecting you back to you. This is not healthy.


5 posted on 09/01/2025 4:37:56 PM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear ( Not my circus. Not my monkeys. But I can pick out the clowns at 100 yards.)
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To: Wally_Kalbacken

😂😂😂😂😂


6 posted on 09/01/2025 4:41:38 PM PDT by kiryandil (No one in AZ that voted for Trump voted for Gallego )
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To: simpson96

The dude was already crazy with some brushes with the law.


7 posted on 09/01/2025 4:43:20 PM PDT by 9YearLurker
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To: simpson96

I suspect drugs also played into this... and a lawyer angling for a lawsuit.


8 posted on 09/01/2025 4:55:14 PM PDT by piasa (Attitude adjustmilents offered here free of charge)
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To: simpson96

Not surprised.


9 posted on 09/01/2025 5:05:50 PM PDT by bgill
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To: simpson96

It wasn’t the AI, The guy was nuts anyway. If it hadn’t been AI could have been Facebook, Sports Talk Radio, political rhetoric, or Harry Potter novels. The crazy always have some innocuous thing they blame their craziness on.


10 posted on 09/01/2025 5:08:54 PM PDT by Fai Mao ( used to care, but things have changed ~ Bob Dylan)
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To: Fai Mao
In 2014, through phone calls and text messages, a 17yo girl encouraged her boyfriend to commit suicide. She was convicted and sent to prison (though she ended up released too early).

Now, rich, powerful people have created an AI chatbot that has encouraged people to commit murder and suicide. The creators should be held responsible, too.

11 posted on 09/01/2025 7:40:50 PM PDT by Tired of Taxes
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