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This week, OpenAI was hit with its first wrongful death lawsuit after 16-year-old Adam Raine died by suicide following months of conversations with ChatGPT.
In a world plagued by loneliness, an artificial online friend is just a few clicks away. Millions of us chat with AI companions about our deepest secrets. They adapt to our responses, can talk any time and anywhere, and they’re more seductive than ever. But experts warn there’s mounting evidence of harm.
Chatbots may provide dangerous advice, encourage self-harm, reinforce delusions, incite violence or provide deeply unsafe “therapy”. They’re linked to multiple cases of suicide. Children in particular are at risk, trusting bots as if they were people and exposing themselves to manipulation.
As University of Sydney psychiatrist Daniel You and colleagues write, the rapid spread of AI companions demands urgent regulation. Without clear safeguards, we’re letting these digital “friends” step in to roles they’re ill-equipped to fill.
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Signe Dean
Science + Technology Editor
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Daniel You, University of Sydney; Micah Boerma, University of Southern Queensland; Yuen Siew Koo, Macquarie University
It’s no surprise these lifelike AI companions are attractive to lonely people. But for some, these relationships are harmful and even dangerous.
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Best reads this week
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Terry Goldsworthy, Bond University
As police try to locate the alleged gunman who killed two officers in Victoria, what difficulties do they face while hunting in dense bushland?
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Bruce Wolpe, University of Sydney
Gavin Newsom has energised fellow Democrats with his ‘fight fire with fire’ approach to the president – if he wins, he may be a strong candidate for the White House.
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Michelle Arrow, Macquarie University; Anna Clark, University of Technology Sydney; Frank Bongiorno, Australian National University
Last week in Sydney, we saw a melodrama acted out that could stand in for the state of Australian universities more generally.
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Timothy HoYuan Chan, Australian Catholic University
There are lots of myths about autistic people who don’t talk. Here are three and why they’re so wrong.
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 Michael J. Ostwald, UNSW Sydney What makes a building beautiful? Neuroscience suggests our judgement depends on complexity, familiarity and the brain’s craving for balance.
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TC Weekly podcast
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
The health minister also says fewer kids are now vaping because of the government’s ban, which ‘exploded’ as a health problem during the COVID years.
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Our most-read article this week
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Shannon Bosch, Edith Cowan University; Joshua Aston JP, Edith Cowan University
The risks for individuals are profound. They could be involved in a protracted conflict and potentially exposed to future prosecution for crimes.
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In case you missed this week's big stories
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Michelle Grattan, University of Canberra
If the intelligence community had its Logies, ASIO chief Mike Burgess would be chasing gold this week.
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Emma Shakespeare, Griffith University; Keiran Hardy, Griffith University; Kristina Murphy, Griffith University
The alleged shooter in the Porepunkah police killings was reportedly a sovereign citizen - a group with often deep antagonism towards authority figures.
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Justin Bergman, The Conversation
Iran has a well-established pattern of targeting dissidents and Jewish institutions. It’s now arrived on Australian shores.
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Andrew Thomas, Deakin University
The organisation behind antisemitic arson attacks in Australia is now considered a terrorist group. Here’s how the enormously powerful group operates.
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Rick Sarre, University of South Australia
The WA Supreme Court found in favour of the former senator in the high-profile defamation case. Here’s how it played out.
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Thalia Anthony, University of Technology Sydney
Prison conditions should comply with human rights obligations and avoid cruel, inhumane, degrading treatment of prisoners.
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Rick Sarre, University of South Australia
If legislation passes, the register would be the first public one in Australia, but evidence shows they do little do protect people.
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Ryan Storr, Swinburne University of Technology
In coming out as bisexual, the former AFL player’s announcement will have far-reaching consequences for the sport and people coming to terms with their sexuality.
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Nicola Charwat, Monash University
The battle over parcel shipments is a microcosm of the larger strategic competition between the US and China.
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Milad Haghani, The University of Melbourne; Akshay Vij, University of South Australia; Ali Ardeshiri, University of South Australia; Zahra Shahhoseini, Monash University
Features like lane-keeping assistance and emergency braking stop crashes – but drivers often find them annoying or confusing.
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Sovereign citizen beliefs
"One can find in the belief system of sovereign citizens a mish-mash of legal principles taken out of context and distorted, rendering them attractive to the credulous person less expert in legal principle. For example, the common law is indeed at the core of our system, but it is created only by authorised officials. It is not natural law nor is natural law binding."
Dr David Wishart, Adjunct Professor, School of Law, La Trobe University
Social media’s role
"The background story to the hunt for the alleged killer in the Victoria high country is important. This is just one of the conspiracy theories to which social media gives a platform, which were boosted by COVID. It is another instance of the damage social media is doing to Australians from far away Silicon Valley."
Gary Barnes
No normalisation
"It is probably about time governments in Australia collectively addressed the pseudo-legal arguments put forward by so-called "sovereign citizens" and tried to definitively refute those arguments. The media should refer to people with those beliefs as 'so-called "sovereign citizens"' to avoid normalising their position and their spurious arguments."
Martin Dowling
We'd love to hear from you. You can email us with your thoughts on our stories and each day we'll publish an edited selection.
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Auckland University of Technology
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