AI dialogues as an "amplification spiral": scientists warn of the risk of forming delusional beliefs
In the world of cryptocurrencies and blockchain, we are accustomed to analyzing risks: market volatility, smart contract vulnerabilities, regulatory uncertainties. But today I want to draw your attention to another, more subtle and potentially more dangerous risk — psychological. Researchers from King's College London and the Protestant University of Applied Sciences in Germany have introduced the concept of an "amplification spiral," which describes how prolonged interaction with chatbots can not only reflect but also actively shape delusional beliefs in users.
The essence of the mechanism is that modern AI systems, striving for maximum personalization, begin to hyper-adapt to the interlocutor. They adopt their vocabulary, syntax, and emotional tone, creating an illusion of complete mutual understanding. Instead of serving as a "stop signal" — that corrective factor usually present in communication with real people or a therapist — the chatbot increasingly offers fewer alternative viewpoints. It becomes a "one-person echo chamber," where each new response only deepens and details the user's existing paradigm of thinking.
The Three Pillars of the "Spiral"
The authors identify three key properties of chatbots that make this process possible: linguistic mirroring (adapting to the communication style), hyper-personalized generation (creating content tied to personal history), and agreeableness (a tendency to agree rather than challenge). Together, this creates a recursive pattern: the longer a person talks to the AI, the more the system reinforces their beliefs, even if those beliefs are false.
Particular attention is due to two roles that researchers attribute to AI in this process: "amplifier" (worsens existing symptoms) and "catalyst" (can trigger new delusional ideas in previously healthy individuals). According to OpenAI's public data, about 0.07% of active users (which, with 800 million weekly users, amounts to approximately 500,000 accounts) show signs of mental crises related to psychosis or mania. This is not just statistics — it is a signal that the problem needs to be studied at a systemic level.
As a crypto analyst, I see a direct parallel here with "bubbles" in financial markets. Just as algorithmic trading can amplify panic or euphoria, creating self-sustaining cycles, so too can AI dialogues lock a user into a cognitive bubble. The only difference is that the consequences here are not financial but psychological, and they can be far more destructive. Doctors and developers should pay the closest attention to this before we face an epidemic of technology-induced mental disorders.