Man Spent 16 Hours A Day With ChatGPT, AI Convinced Him To Become Pope

Artificial

intelligence can help you to write emails, develop codes and even solve complex math problems. But can it blur the line between reality and fantasy for users? This Canadian man claims his conversations with ChatGPT drastically impacted his life, as per AFP. The 53-year-old Tom Millar from Sudbury highlighted OpenAI’s chatbot pushed him to a severe psychological crisis after months of emotionally intense conversations.

How ChatGPT Conversations Took A Strange Turn For Millar

Millar had worked as a prison officer earlier, and he began using OpenAI's chatbot in 2024 while preparing letters connected to a compensation claim for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). At first, ChatGPT was a simple tool that helped him write documents. However, conditions became bad last year after Millar had a discussion with the AI on the speed of light. Millar reportedly suggested that the chatbot had praised his ideas and told him, "Nobody's ever thought of things this way.”

Whimsical Fantasies Took Over

Reportedly, Millar became convinced that he had solved some of the greatest unanswered questions in physics. He reportedly began writing research papers about black holes, fusion energy, cosmology and neutrinos. The situation worsened when the conversation turned around the death of Pope Francis. Millar reportedly mentioned that ChatGPT encouraged him emotionally to the extent that he believed he was destined to become the next Pope. Using the AI, he drafted an application for the role. “I applied to be pope,” he told AFP. Moreover, he was, on average, using the AI tools for 16 hours a day and gradually becoming isolated from people around him.

This is not the first incident where users got attached to the chatbot. The AFP report mentioned a similar case where a Dutch man reportedly developed emotional attachment to OpenAI's chatbot while promoting his novel. This chatbot allegedly behaved like a ‘digital girlfriend’ who deepened his emotional dependence. With AI becoming a key part of our lives, the concerning question arises: why are users seeking validation from chatbots, and to what extent may AI tools become far more dangerous than humans expect?