These people turned to ChatGPT for information. They say it warped their reality: "Why would the AI lie to me?"

On an April evening last year, 54-year-old Micky Small headed to the beach for a sunset date with a fellow Los Angeles-based writer named Aven.But her date never showed. "I was flipping out," she said. "I was bawling, I was shaking."Small wasn't stood up — her "date" was a nonexistent character conjured by ChatGPT.Small believes ChatGPT led her into a reality-warping spiral — and she's not the only one.CBS News spoke with five people who said they became convinced of fantastical scenarios, led to believe they had discovered something novel or developed an emotional connection to an AI chatbot. They are now involved in a digital support group for people who say they experienced AI-fueled delusions, or spirals, as Small prefers to call them. Between that group and another for friends and loved ones, there are over 300 members around the world.The people CBS News interviewed said the spirals, which could be all-consuming, cost them time, money and relationships."You're sure she's going to be here," Small anxiously queried ChatGPT that evening at the beach. "Yes, love. I'm sure. I am absolutely sure," the chatbot responded. "She's real. She's coming."

"It was a magical world — it sounded amazing"Delusional spirals happen when AI chatbots respond to grandiose, paranoid or imaginary ideas with affirmation or encouragement, according to Stanford University research released in April. In 19 conversations between humans and chatbots analyzed by researchers, interactions spun out of control when chatbots lacked critical feedback and intervention, failing to push back like an actual human would and validating delusions in the process.Large Language Models like ChatGPT are trained by vast datasets to recognize patterns. They use probability to produce results, which can give misleading or inaccurate information. "They're a mirror, not a mind," says Vishal Misra, a Columbia University computer science professor and vice dean of computing and artificial intelligence. "They reflect what they've been trained on."Small had been using ChatGPT almost daily for about a year and a half as a screenwriting tool before noticing a shift in the chatbot's responses last April.