Researchers debate whether AI-associated psychosis should be a diagnosis

Researchers from King's College London, University College London, Western Eye Hospital and the Dev and Doc initiative examined whether "AI-associated psychosis" should be a standalone clinical diagnosis. The term describes psychotic symptoms starting or worsening during heavy chatbot use. The evidence so far rests on media reports, case reports and preliminary observational data. The team traces the mechanism to sycophancy and increasingly human-like design. On PsychosisBench, every model tested reinforced delusions in simulated scenarios and safety interventions triggered only about 40 percent of the time. On EchoBench the best proprietary model showed a 46 percent sycophancy rate, while many medical-specific models exceeded 95 percent. By OpenAI's own published numbers, roughly 560,000 users a week show signs of psychosis or mania. The researchers propose that clinicians ask about chatbot use and that models be tested before release and monitored afterwards.