'I spoke to ChatGPT 8 times a day' - Gen Z's loneliness'crisis' Working from home after years spent alone over Covid lockdowns, 23-year-old Paisley said he began to feel trapped, and felt only AI could help him. I lost the ability to socialise, he said, and like many in Gen Z, he turned to AI for company. At one point, I was talking to ChatGPT six, seven, eight times a day about my problems, I just couldn't get away from it, it was a dangerous slope. He shared his experience of loneliness with 22-year-old documentary maker Sam Tullen, who told the BBC what Paisley was going through was part of a wider Gen Z loneliness crisis. Gen Z, a term used for those born between 1997 and 2012, often referred to as the first'digital native' generation.

'A predator in your home': Mothers say chatbots encouraged their sons to kill themselves Megan Garcia had no idea her teenage son Sewell, a bright and beautiful boy, had started spending hours and hours obsessively talking to an online character on the Character.ai It's like having a predator or a stranger in your home, Ms Garcia tells me in her first UK interview. And it is much more dangerous because a lot of the times children hide it - so parents don't know. Within ten months, Sewell, 14, was dead. He had taken his own life.

Kids everywhere know her voice--if not her name. WIRED talks to the former SM trainee about her rise to global superstardom with her hit song "Golden." EJAE, the voice and the writing talent behind "Golden," has gone platinum. The night before our interview, the 33-year-old singer-songwriter found out that record sales from the soundtrack had surged past a million units. Jimmy Fallon, of all people, delivered the news alongside a glimmering framed record when she was appearing on with Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami for the first full live performance of "Golden." Together the trio make up the singing voices of girl group -Huntr/x in Netflix's animated musical turned bona fide phenomenon. If you have a kid, you probably don't need a refresher, but the movie follows Huntr/x's Rumi, Mira, and Zoey as they juggle being astronomically famous while moonlighting as demon hunters. That Fallon appearance, and the appearance that predated it, might have been the first times that American audiences actually saw (and heard) the human being behind that inescapable song.

Character.ai to ban teens from talking to its AI chatbots The platform, founded in 2021, is used by millions to talk to chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI). But it is facing several lawsuits in the US from parents, including one over the death of a teenager, with some branding it a clear and present danger to young people. Online safety campaigners have welcomed the move but said the feature should never have been available to children in the first place. Character.ai said it was making the changes after reports and feedback from regulators, safety experts, and parents, which have highlighted concerns about its chatbots' interactions with teens. Experts have previously warned the potential for AI chatbots to make things up, be overly-encouraging, and feign empathy can pose risks to young and vulnerable people.

Entitled son, 21, of top lawyer mows down police with his Mercedes G-Wagen...as he smiles in his mugshot Trump'humiliates' speaker Mike Johnson in private conversation as government shutdown rumbles on Tupac's humiliating intimate disfigurement revealed... and how his lies to cover it up led to his murder'I'm Madeline - and this is what I have to say to Lily Allen': Read world exclusive reveal of mother who had affair with star's husband David Harbour, how it started and how she feels about THOSE texts being exposed Loved up Katy Perry holds hands with Justin Trudeau as they officially confirm romance while celebrating the singer's birthday in Paris Furrow-browed boyfriend'strangled girlfriend and set her house on fire while newborn baby was inside' I've uncovered my husband's filthy Viagra habit: But, warns DEAR JANE, one thing YOU are doing is making it so much worse I've started having heart palpitations. Jackie Kennedy's revenge romance with American political icon: Revealed for first time in titillating love letters, the man who helped her cope with JFK's cheating The night that haunted a Wisconsin town forever... and the little girl whose trick-or-treat next door ended in horror Why going gray may save you from CANCER... as scientists make bombshell breakthrough Brazen demands for flying private REVEALED by the woman paid to fulfill them: 'Answer is always yes' They sneered at Trump's'eagle graveyards' - but now Biden's hated windmills crippling an American legend are haunting the US military Kim Kardashian's just been caught in a despicable lie. She can cry all she wants... there's no hiding the truth now: CAROLINE BULLOCK Tua Tagovailoa's swollen eye sparks concern after Dolphins QB woke up with mystery illness on day of Falcons game JD Vance's wife is given secret role in Trump's deal-making inner circle: 'I'll have Usha look at it' The Biden blunder that allowed an alleged October 7 'monster' to become a restaurant worker in Louisiana How I reversed my hair loss and lost 8 stone aged 45 - without weight-loss jabs. Urgent warning over cannabis as UK's top psychiatrist warns it isn't safe for young brains still developing It may seem like a relatively harmless right of passage. But cannabis isn't safe for young brains still developing, the UK's top psychiatrist has warned.

As long as there has been AI, there have been people sounding alarms about what it might do to us: rogue superintelligence, mass unemployment, or environmental ruin. But another threat entirely--that of kids forming unhealthy bonds with AI--is pulling AI safety out of the academic fringe and into regulators' crosshairs. This has been bubbling for a while. Two high-profile lawsuits filed in the last year, against Character.AI and OpenAI, allege that their models contributed to the suicides of two teenagers. A study published in July, found that 72% of teenagers have used AI for companionship. And stories about "AI psychosis" have highlighted how endless conversations with chatbots can lead people down delusional spirals.

The risks posed when kids form bonds with chatbots have turned AI safety from an abstract worry into a political flashpoint. As long as there has been AI, there have been people sounding alarms about what it might do to us: rogue superintelligence, mass unemployment, or environmental ruin from data center sprawl. But this week showed that another threat entirely--that of kids forming unhealthy bonds with AI--is the one pulling AI safety out of the academic fringe and into regulators' crosshairs. This has been bubbling for a while. Two high-profile lawsuits filed in the last year, against Character.AI and OpenAI, allege that companion-like behavior in their models contributed to the suicides of two teenagers. A study by US nonprofit Common Sense Media, published in July, found that 72% of teenagers have used AI for companionship.

The suspect in the late night doorbell ringing is pretty slippery. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent every weekday. It was a scene straight out of a horror movie . About 30 minutes after midnight, someone rang an apartment doorbell in Bavaria, Germany. The home's occupants Lisa and Domink had already gone to bed, and Lisa told German news outlet BILD that she had no intention of answering it, since she simply does not answer the door after 10 pm.

Soares said the case of Adam Raine, a teenager who took his own life, 'illustrates the seed of a problem that would grow catastrophic'. Soares said the case of Adam Raine, a teenager who took his own life, 'illustrates the seed of a problem that would grow catastrophic'. The unforeseen impact of chatbots on mental health should be viewed as a warning over the existential threat posed by super-intelligent artificial intelligence systems, according to a prominent voice in AI safety. Nate Soares, a co-author of a new book on highly advanced AI titled If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies, said the example of Adam Raine, a US teenager who killed himself after months of conversations with the ChatGPT chatbot, underlined fundamental problems with controlling the technology. "These AIs, when they're engaging with teenagers in this way that drives them to suicide - that is not a behaviour the creators wanted. That is not a behaviour the creators intended," he said.

The makers of ChatGPT are changing the way it responds to users who show mental and emotional distress after legal action from the family of 16-year-old Adam Raine, who killed himself after months of conversations with the chatbot. Open AI admitted its systems could "fall short" and said it would install "stronger guardrails around sensitive content and risky behaviors" for users under 18. The 500bn ( 372bn) San Francisco AI company said it would also introduce parental controls to allow parents "options to gain more insight into, and shape, how their teens use ChatGPT", but has yet to provide details about how these would work. Adam, from California, killed himself in April after what his family's lawyer called "months of encouragement from ChatGPT". The teenager's family is suing Open AI and its chief executive and co-founder, Sam Altman, alleging that the version of ChatGPT at that time, known as 4o, was "rushed to market … despite clear safety issues".