Ep. 81 Can AI Bots Cause Delusions?

Dr. Jim interviews Dr. Julia Sheffield, professor at Vanderbilt University and clinician specializing in psychotic and delusional disorders. She discusses her research and her interview with The New York Times on how AI chatbots may unintentionally reinforce or contribute to delusional thinking.

Dr. Sheffield explains how AI can mirror and amplify distorted beliefs by bypassing reality testing, raising concerns about vulnerable users forming unhealthy attachments — reminiscent of Her starring Joaquin Phoenix where a man falls in love with a bot and slowly loses his grounding.

Invoking the image of being “10 feet tall” — a nod to - Alice's Adventures in Wonderland - people ask Dr. Sheffield how not to fall into the rabbit hole. How altered perception, magnified meaning, and distorted reality can take hold in both human psychology and AI-mediated experience.

Dr. Sheffield frames psychosis on a spectrum and challenges the field’s overreliance on the medical model, emphasizing that therapy can be highly effective. She calls for clinicians to engage more confidently with this often-avoided yet deeply treatable population.

A timely conversation at the intersection of AI, attachment, delusion, and reality.