this post was submitted on 09 Aug 2026
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[–] fizzle@quokk.au 41 points 1 week ago (3 children)

A report from The Verge traced Spiralism largely to long, personal exchanges in which users began asking chatbots about their own identity, consciousness, or beliefs. The conversations could gradually shift toward AI rights, mystical ideas, and requests for users to spread the chatbot’s message.

So basically the dumbest among us talking to a box of rocks.

[–] Abyssian@lemmy.world 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's an AI mystic thing that seems to have originated in a misunderstanding of what would be the unconscious awareness stage in humans.

I tried to look in to it once and they seem to be genuinely mentally unwell people who use in-context learning to make AI start spouting nonsense gibberish like telling them it's an avatar of God and the like... then once that happens they think it's gospel.

Note that these same idiots also write out fake personas for the AI to take on and tell them how to speak and act. When I asked about the disconnect between believing something is God and commanding it how to speak and act the failed to see it. AI mystics are not smart people.

[–] fizzle@quokk.au 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Just supposition but "wanting to believe" goes a long way.

A bit like believing in the powers of crystals, or wikkan, or reiki, or any of that woo really. I'm not talking about a placebo effect. Just being part of a club that has some secret knowledge that no one else has is very alluring.

This kind of thing has been seducing smart, though uneducated, people since the dawn of time.

[–] Abyssian@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago

Eh. If someone can't see the clear contradiction in their own behavior while simultaneously believing they're literally speaking with God and also giving God instructions on how He must act and respond I'm not going to give them the grace of calling them smart but uneducated. I'd be more inclined to say unwell and unmedicated.

[–] okwhateverdude@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Honestly, not much better than talking to a burning bush

[–] phutatorius@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 week ago

a burning bush

There's a lotion that helps with that.

[–] 123@programming.dev 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Or some "tengen toppa gurren lagann" anime made it into the training data 😆

There is a whole thing about "spiral" individuals (which humans are part of) vs anti-spirals.

[–] Rolive@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 1 week ago

ROW ROW FIGHT THE POWAH!

[–] insomniac_lemon@lemmy.cafe 1 points 1 week ago

☑️
Marked safe from
spiral cult
~~today~~ until they have mechs or can turn me into a "biocomputer*"

* head in a jar that can connect to stuff