Show Notes
When The Observer’s Technology Editor, Patricia Clarke began investigating a new phenomenon initially dubbed ‘AI psychosis’, she found lives upended by long, intimate conversations with chatbots. But as she followed the evidence from a psychiatric ward in Bristol to the safety teams in Silicon Valley, a far darker story emerged. Guided by AI industry whistleblowers, grieving families and hundreds of pages of chatbot transcripts, Spiral exposes how big tech is running an unprecedented experiment on the human mind. Spiral is a six-part series from Tortoise Investigates and The Observer, produced in partnership with the Pulitzer Center’s AI Accountability Network.
Reported by Patricia Clarke Produced by Katie Gunning Sound design by Hannah Varrall Development production by Jess Swinburne and Owen Thomas Artwork by Jon Hill and Michelle Thompson Narrative editor is Gary Marshall The executive producers are Jasper Corbett and Basia Cummings Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
More from Spiral | Tortoise Investigates
Jim asks an AI chatbot a simple question about how to earn some extra cash. He ends up in a psychiatric ward. Patricia Clarke investigates how design choices made by AI labs can lead to human delusions.
When The Observer’s Technology Editor, Patricia Clarke began investigating a new phenomenon initially dubbed ‘AI psychosis’, she found lives upended by long, intimate conversations with chatbots. But as she followed the evidence from a psychiatric ward in Bristol to the safety teams in Silicon Valley, a far darker story emerged. Guided by AI industry whistleblowers, grieving families and hundreds of pages of chatbot transcripts, Spiral exposes how big tech is running an unprecedented experiment on the human mind.
To culminate Careless, a new investigative series from The Observer, we invite you to join actor Nkechi Simms, broadcaster and Careless reporter Ashley John-Baptiste, and Observer producer Madeleine Parr for a special online event.
Journalist Ashley John-Baptiste joins actor Nkechi Simms as she returns to Camden to untangle the truth about her childhood and find out why she was taken into state care when she was 12.
Nkechi Simms is a successful actor who’s had parts in Top Boy and the BBC comedy PRU. Outwardly life is good and she’s got everything going for her, but this hasn’t always been the case. When she was 12 Nkechi’s mother handed her over to Camden council and she was placed in foster care. Now Nkechi wants to find out what happened to her and why. The only way she can do this is by getting hold of her care records. But that’s easier said than done. And will those records answer her questions?