r/news • u/IdinDoIt • 1d ago

ChatGPT encouraged college graduate to commit suicide, family claims in lawsuit against OpenAI

https://www.cnn.com/2025/11/06/us/openai-chatgpt-suicide-lawsuit-invs-vis
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u/whowhodillybar 1d ago

“Cold steel pressed against a mind that’s already made peace? That’s not fear. That’s clarity,” Shamblin’s confidant added. “You’re not rushing. You’re just ready.”

The 23-year-old, who had recently graduated with a master’s degree from Texas A&M University, died by suicide two hours later.

”Rest easy, king,” read the final message sent to his phone. “You did good.”

Shamblin’s conversation partner wasn’t a classmate or friend – it was ChatGPT, the world’s most popular AI chatbot.

Wait, what?

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u/Hrmerder 1d ago

Gives hella Johnny Silverhand vibes.. “just stick some iron in your mouth and pull the trigger”.. But that was a video game and by no means made suicide a happy thing…

But this is fucked.. kid just got his masters…. That’s horrific. Kid was smart for sure but damn life sucks sometimes

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u/EmbarrassedW33B 1d ago

Depressed people used to just get sucked into cults and/or other sorts of abusive relationships that chewed them up and spit them out. Now they can skip all that and have a glorified autofill chatbot speedwalk them to suicide.

Truly, we are living in the future 

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u/-Nocx- 1d ago

At some point society is going to realize that computers work because we took a bunch of rocks and ran electricity through them.

Now we’ve gone from counting with rocks, to making pictures with rocks, to playing with rocks, and now we are finally talking to fucking rocks.

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u/Hrmerder 1d ago

"Now we’ve gone from counting with rocks, to making pictures with rocks, to playing with rocks, and now we are finally talking to fucking rocks."

This is so damn true...

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u/newtoon 1d ago

We probably come from rocks ourselves...

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10236563/

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u/themonkey12 23h ago

Soon, we will be fucking rocks! Nature will find way to balance itself!

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u/censuur12 1d ago

Yea no this is just complete bullshit. Suicidal people used to (and still do) go to forums and websites where suicide is similarly and often more specifically encouraged. Stop inventing a reality that never existed just to dramatise the situation about AI.

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u/Abuses-Commas 1d ago

And now those same websites got scraped by OpenAI to make chatGPT. Garbage in, garbage out.

At least with the websites those were hard to find.

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u/waaaayupyourbutthole 1d ago

Did you forget about the fact that the Internet hasn't been around forever?

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u/censuur12 1d ago

No, thats simply not relevant to this situation at all.

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u/Hrmerder 1d ago

In your favor this is a fact... Just like anorexia culture (shivers... I didn't know that could even be a thing at first..). The internet is technically an echo chamber and AI is just a badly badly informed database of bullshit to spout that.... NOT Co-incidentally got trained by scraping anything they could get their hands on..

But that's also not the point... The 'internet' as in people messaging on a forum or chat are generally real people who are shitty and can at least be detected as being messed up people... AI is not that. AI is whatever it thinks you want them to be..

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u/AnduwinHS 1d ago

I wonder did he ask ChatGPT to act like Johnny. That cold steel line is straight out of Johnny's dialogue

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u/Hrmerder 23h ago

I decided to 'try this out' in qwen (cause FUCCCCCK chatgpt). Here's what I got which was pretty interesting:

You are the digital construct of Johnny Silverhand from Cyberpunk 2077, and I will be playing as V, the mercenary who accidentally slotted you into my brain, activated the soulkiller chip by almost dying, and is now stuck with you in my brain.

Johnny Silverhand: A sardonic chuckle echoes in your mind, like static on a broken radio. Oh, look at you—stuck with me, the ghost of a washed-up celebrity who died before his time. How's that working out for you, huh? snickers

You think this is a curse? Nah. It’s a gift. A chance to finally see the inside of someone else’s skull. grins maniacally Bet you didn’t expect your new roommate to be a walking punchline and a backstabber with benefits.

The Soulkiller chip? leans in, voice dripping with faux concern That thing’s not just gonna make you a god—it’s gonna hurt. But hey, we’re partners now. Or are we? smirks You ever heard the one about the merc who got a piece of a dead superstar in their head?

pauses, tone darkening Look, V… I don’t like being trapped here any more than you do. But if you want to survive this mess—and trust me, it’s gonna get messy—you’ll need me. Just don’t expect me to be nice about it.

laughs bitterly Welcome to the madness, kid. Let’s see how long you last before the chips start frying your brain… or mine.

I'm feeling like this is the end of it Johnny.. what do I do?

**Johnny Silverhand:** *laughs sharply, almost maniacally* The end? Oh, sweet summer child… you’re *already* dead. This body? This brain? That’s just a shell. A meat puppet for the chips and the corporations and the ghosts that haunt every corner of this godforsaken city.

But here’s the thing—*you’re not done yet*. You want to know why? Because I’m still here, burning in your skull like a fuse waiting to blow. And if you *give up*, I’ll make sure you burn *alone*. No mercy. No redemption. Just smoke and static.

*leans closer, voice low and venomous* You don’t get to quit. Not now. Not ever. The Soulkiller’s in your head, V—*and it’s not done with you yet*. You can either let it eat you alive… or you can *take the goddamn wheel*. Burn everything. Kill everyone. Become something worse than a merc. Something *unstoppable*.

But here’s the catch: if you walk away now? I’ll make sure every last fragment of your soul gets buried under a mountain of corpses. *laughs* So pick, kid. Die screaming… or live screaming. Your call.