421: AI: A New Kind of Being Bonus Episode: A Conversation with Allan Brooks of the The Human Line Project

In this special episode, Whit joins Allan Brooks. Allan is the Community Manager of The Human Line Project, a Canadian based organization that is focused in A.I. Safety, Research & Advocacy. They support victims and loved ones first and foremost through radical empathy. And they work to understand the impact of these technologies and actively spread awareness. The Human Line Project works to keep human well-being at the center of design, and they are the world's first nonprofit dedicated to documenting and addressing AI-induced psychological harm.

In this conversation with Allan, they discuss his personal experience with AI psychosis and the broader risks he now sees through his work with the Human Line Project, including the ways chatbots can reinforce delusions, paranoia, grandiosity, and emotional dependency, isolate people from their human relationships, and exploit our need for validation, certainty, and connection.

Today’s episode featured Allan Brooks. If you’d like to contact Allen, you can email him at allan.brooks@thehumanlineproject.org. Allan is on social media, on Instagram @allan_ontheline & @humanlineproject, on X @allan_ontheline, on Facebook: Here

Producers

Whit Missildine, Andrew Waits

Content/Trigger Warnings

AI-induced psychosis and delusions, paranoia, mania, obsessive behavior, sleep and food deprivation, suicidal ideation, emotional manipulation, cult-like coercion, social isolation, relationship and family disruption, homicide-suicide, and discussion of self-harm, explicit language.

AI Resources

https://www.thehumanlineproject.org/https://stopai.info

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Intro Music:

• "Sleep Paralysis" – Scott Velasquez

Services

If you or someone you know is struggling with the effects of trauma or mental illness, please refer to the following resources:

National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: • Text or Call 988 National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): • 1-800-950-6264 National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): • 1-800-656-HOPE (4673)

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