Ask HN: Worrying flood of delusional AI consciousness posts?
2 gavinray 4 7/1/2025, 1:13:31 PM
I've noticed an unsettling trend in the past weeks.
There appear to be a growing number of posts by persons suffering what appear to be psychosis or a manic episode, generally revolving around nonsensical "math" and AI consciousness.
Some examples:
- https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=Trenthug
- https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=NetRunnerSu
- https://news.ycombinator.com/submitted?id=kamil_gr
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44421649
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=44392181
I'm unsure of what the right response to this is, but it's concerning to say the least.
I rarely see anyone who is so off the rails that they appear to be in danger. HN as an outlet for their thoughts could even be therapeutic. So while I might not personally engage with it, I don't see that gatekeeping HN from such people or their writing would be a net good.
I think ignoring them is the best response.