Teenager died after asking ChatGPT for ‘most successful’ way to take his life, inquest told

Luca Cella Walker asked chatbot for best way for someone to kill themself on railway line before his death

A 16-year-old boy killed himself after asking ChatGPT for the “most successful” way to take your own life, an inquest has been told.

Luca Cella Walker, a private school pupil from Yateley, Hampshire, died on 4 May last year.

An inquest at Winchester coroner’s court heard on Tuesday that, hours before his death, Walker had asked the generative AI chatbot for the “most successful” way for someone to kill themself on a railway line.

At the time of his death, he was studying at Sixth Form College Farnborough. He had recently graduated from Lord Wandsworth College near Hook, Hampshire. The court heard that the school had a “bully or be bullied” culture, which had been a “formative” factor in his mental health struggles.