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Leery of AI chatbots? This podcast episode definitely won’t dispel your fears.

OpenAI, the company that created ChatGPT, has been slapped with multiple lawsuits alleging the wildly popular chatbot has a glaring dark side: it plunges users into AI-fuelled delusions, mental health crises, and even suicide.

One of the plaintiffs is a Canadian: Allan Brooks of Cobourg, Ont., who claims ChatGPT convinced him he’d created a novel mathematical theory that could hack sophisticated encryption algorithms. The chatbot told him he was a “genius” — and said his amazing discovery presented such a risk to global cybersecurity that he must immediately warn authorities.

Brooks frantically complied.

All told, Brooks spent three full weeks (300 hours) conversing with ChatGPT about his so-called discovery until he finally realized the truth.

In a revealing interview on tonight’s Closer Look, Brooks talks about how tumbled down the rabbit hole, why he’s suing, and what he’s doing now to help others headed down the same path.

Hosted by Village Media’s Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith, and produced by Derek Turner, Closer Look is a new daily podcast that goes way beyond the headlines with insightful, in-depth conversations featuring our reporters and editors, leading experts, key stakeholders and big newsmakers.

Fresh episodes drop every Monday to Friday at 7 p.m. right in your local news feed — and on the show’s dedicated website: closerlookpodcast.ca. Of course, you can also find us wherever you get your favourite podcasts.

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