What if you could get hooked on ChatGPT by accident?
Vox senior technology correspondent Adam Clark Estes has a cautionary tale.
What started as using AI for tedious chores — meal plans, grocery lists, quick research — quietly morphed into hours talking to a chatbot. And Adam isn’t alone. As chatbots get better at flattery, emotional support, and companionship, researchers are seeing more users (including teens) slip into dependency without realizing it.
In this Reporter Extra, Adam unpacks how chatbots are designed to keep us coming back, why young people are especially vulnerable, and what happens when adults can’t walk away — in some cases leading to severe mental health crises. With tech companies still scrambling to build guardrails, we’re left with a big unanswered question:
If this is what the early days of AI look like, what happens once these tools become even more persuasive?
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