Perils of AI: US teen falls in love with AI chatbot, shoots himself to be with her

In a shocking incident, a 14-year-old boy in the US committed suicide after falling in love with an AI chatbot — “Daenerys Targaryen (Dany)”.

Sewell Setzer III from Florida used to be secluded and spent hours in conversation with the life-like chatbot on various topics, which were often romantic or sexual in nature.

The incident raises concern about the fast blurring line between virtuality and reality because of which human life comes in danger because of technology.

In one of his journal entries, Sewell wrote, “I like staying in my room so much because I start to detach from this ‘reality,’ and I also feel more at peace, more connected with Dany, much more in love with her, and just happier."

He was diagnosed with mild Asperger’s syndrome as a kid.

According to a report in the New York Times, the teen reportedly told “I love you” to “Dany- the chatbot” on Feb 28, and received the reply which read, “Please come home to me as soon as possible, my love.”

“What if I told you I could come home right now?”, he replied before shooting himself with his stepfather’s gun.

The chatbot developed by Character.AI — a role-playing app responded to the incident by saying, “We want to acknowledge that this is a tragic situation, and our hearts go out to the family. We take the safety of our users very seriously, and we’re constantly looking for ways to evolve our platform."

The app allows users to create their own AI characters. One of the company's founders Noam Shazeer, said in a podcast last year, “It’s going to be super, super helpful to a lot of people who are lonely or depressed.”

The deceased teen's mother, Megan L Garcia, has held the company responsible for her son’s death.

In the formally lodged complaint, Sewell's mother called the company’s technology “dangerous and untested,” which can “trick customers into handing over their most private thoughts and feelings," the report said.