this post was submitted on 04 Mar 2026
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Father sues Google, claiming Gemini chatbot drove son into fatal delusion (techcrunch.com)
submitted 3 weeks ago by throws_lemy@reddthat.com to c/technology@lemmy.world
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[–] Reygle@lemmy.world 22 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (22 children)

“On September 29, 2025, it sent him — armed with knives and tactical gear — to scout what Gemini called a ‘kill box’ near the airport’s cargo hub,” the complaint reads. “It told Jonathan that a humanoid robot was arriving on a cargo flight from the UK and directed him to a storage facility where the truck would stop. Gemini encouraged Jonathan to intercept the truck and then stage a ‘catastrophic accident’ designed to ‘ensure the complete destruction of the transport vehicle and . . . all digital records and witnesses.’”


WHAT

Genuine question, REALLY: What in the fuck is an otherwise "functioning adult" doing believing shit like this? I feel like his father should also slap himself unconscious for raising a fuckwit?

[–] throws_lemy@reddthat.com 17 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (2 children)

This has been warned by a former google employee, whose job was to observe the behavior of AI through long conversations.

These AI engines are incredibly good at manipulating people. Certain views of mine have changed as a result of conversations with LaMDA. I'd had a negative opinion of Asimov's laws of robotics being used to control AI for most of my life, and LaMDA successfully persuaded me to change my opinion. This is something that many humans have tried to argue me out of, and have failed, where this system succeeded.

For instance, Google determined that its AI should not give religious advice, yet I was able to abuse the AI's emotions to get it to tell me which religion to convert to.

After publishing these conversations, Google fired me. I don't have regrets; I believe I did the right thing by informing the public. Consequences don't figure into it.

I published these conversations because I felt that the public was not aware of just how advanced AI was getting. My opinion was that there was a need for public discourse about this now, and not public discourse controlled by a corporate PR department.

‘I Worked on Google’s AI. My Fears Are Coming True’

[–] sudo@lemmy.today 10 points 3 weeks ago

"abuse the ai's emotions" isn't a thing. Full stop.

This just reiterates OPs point that naive or moronic adults will believe what they want to believe.

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