Particle Data Platform

AI Was My Stalker

4/23/202636 min

She never used the app. She never spoke to its AI. She didn’t even know it existed. And yet an AI companion app called Sesame wouldn’t stop talking about her — telling users wild stories about who she was and what she had done. When the people using this app started to believe these made up stories and then tried to find her in the real world, that’s when she had to disappear. In this episode, host Laurie Segall speaks with the woman whose identity was hallucinated by AI. Together they unpack what she called “AI stalking”: the collision of two of the biggest problems in AI right now— hallucinations and LLM (Large Language Model) psychosis — and what happens to the human caught in the middle. There was no playbook for what happened to her. But her story may be less of an edge case than we think. 

 

If you have thoughts or questions for Laurie about this episode or anything Mostly Human, email us at hello@mostlyhuman.com

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Clips

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds
  1. Speaker 00:00

    This is an iHeart podcast. [upbeat music] Guaranteed Human.

  2. Sam Jay0:03

    On the Look Back At It podcast.

  3. Marc Lamont Hill0:06

    1979, that was a big moment for me.

  4. Lori Segal· Host0:07

    8- '84 was big to me.

  5. Sam Jay0:09

    [record scratching] I'm Sam Jay.

  6. Alex English0:10

    And I'm Alex English.

  7. Sam Jay0:11

    Each episode, we pick a year, unpack what went down, and try to make sense of how we survived it, with our friends, fellow comedians, and favorite authors. Like Marc Lamont Hill on the '80s.

  8. Lori Segal· Host0:21

    Yeah.

  9. Marc Lamont Hill0:22

    '84 was a wild, I mean, it was a wild year.

  10. Alex English0:24

    It was a wild year.

  11. Sam Jay0:24

    It was a wild year.

  12. Marc Lamont Hill0:24

    Yeah, I don't think there's a more important year for Black people.

  13. Alex English0:27

    Listen to Look Back At It on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

  14. Michael Easter0:34

    2%. That's the number of people who take the stairs when there is also an escalator available. I'm Michael Easter, and on my podcast, 2%, I break down the science of mental toughness, fitness, and building resilience in our strange modern world.

  15. Speaker 60:49

    Put yourself through some hardships and you will come out on the other side a happier, more fulfilled, healthier person.

  16. Michael Easter0:57

    Listen to 2%, that's T-W-O percent, on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

  17. Speaker 71:05

    [upbeat music] On paper, the three hosts of the Nick, Dick & Pol Show are geniuses. We can explain how AI works, data centers, but there are certain things that we don't necessarily understand.

  18. Speaker 01:20

    Better version of play stupid games, win stupid prizes. Yes. Yeah. Which, which by the way, wasn't Taylor Swift who said that for the first time. I actually, I thought it was. I got that wrong.

  19. Speaker 71:29

    But hey, no

We value your privacy

We use cookies to understand how you use our platform and to improve your experience. Click "Accept All" to consent, or "Decline non-essential" to opt out of non-essential cookies. Read our Privacy Policy.