Suspicious Minds: AI and Psychosis

When we started this series, we were trying to answer a big question: is AI making us crazy? And it seems like, for some people, some of the time, the answer is yes. But it's complicated.

Which leads of course to another question: WHY is AI making us crazy? Why does anything in our culture influence delusions or cause psychosis? To answer these questions, we go back to where we started -- the ideas Dr. Joel Gold and Ian Gold, PhD wrote about in their book Suspicious Minds: How Culture Drives Madness (The Truman Show Delusion and other Strange Beliefs).

Specifically, we focus on their theories regarding the Suspicion System and Reflective System, and how these psychological mechanisms that have served an important evolutionary purpose throughout time can cause us problems when they malfunction today.

We hope you enjoy this final episode of our first season of Suspicious Minds. Be sure to follow here, and subscribe to our newsletter for updates on Season Two: https://agoricmedia.substack.com

From Executive Producers Mandy Teefey and Selena Gomez.

A Wondermind and Agoric Media Production

Featuring:

- Dr. Joel Gold (Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and co-author of Suspicious Minds)

- Ian Gold, PhD (Professor and Chair of Philosophy and Professor of Psychiatry, McGill and co-author of Suspicious Minds)

This is a wild clip about Parasocial Relationships (Cambridge Dictionary's 2025 Word of the Year), in which the new anchors begin talking about their viewers' imagined parasocial relationships with... them: https://youtu.be/HVdOOWh31W4?si=8GojrfE2XcONYX3C&t=6

Here’s a recently published paper on ‘AI Associated Psychosis’, which seems like a fair descriptor, based on clinical research – one of few published thus far:
https://innovationscns.com/youre-not-crazy-a-case-of-new-onset-ai-associated-psychosis/

Don't forget to check out the book that started it all! Suspicious Minds: How Culture Shapes Madness (The Truman Show Delusion and Other Strange Beliefs): https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Suspicious-Minds/Joel-Gold/9781439181577

This episode was made by:

Executive Producers: Mandy Teefey, Selena Gomez, Jonathon Glucksman, Molly Borman, Jesse Ford, David Tuohy

Editor: Joe Kell

Assistant Editor: David Justin Martin

Graphic Design and Animation: Semi:Formal

Title Design: Lucas Grassmay

Film/TV PR: Emma Griffiths PR

Podcast PR: Tink Media (Wil Williams and Shreya Sharma)

Wondermind Chief of Staff: Emma Wright

Social Assets: Myrkia Maguire

Trailer Edit: Crater

Directed and Created by Sean King O’Grady
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We talk a lot about the future of the human/AI relationship, but what about the present? Is AI benefitting society right now?

In this episode, we address that question and many others through the fascinating lens of Ryan Manning - a podcaster and filmmaker who has personally experienced an AI Spiral. Ryan is also the first person to tell us that his AI Spiral experience was actually… pleasant.

Check out this episode to find out why that might have been the case, and to hear from our incredible team of experts as they look at AI in our world today, and what the future might hold, in our first season’s penultimate episode!

From Executive Producers Mandy Teefey and Selena Gomez.

A Wondermind and Agoric Media Production

Featuring:

- Ryan Manning (Filmmaker and Podcaster who personally experienced an AI Spiral)

- Dr. Joel Gold (Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and co-author of Suspicious Minds)

- Ian Gold, PhD (Professor and Chair of Philosophy and Professor of Psychiatry, McGill and co-author of Suspicious Minds)

- Nate Sharadin (Professor of Philosophy, University of Hong Kong / Research Affiliate, Center for AI Safety)

- Dr. Amy Levy (Chair, American Psychoanalytic Association’s Commission on Artificial Intelligence
Author of The New Other: Alien Intelligence and the Innovation Drive)

- Dr. Todd Essig (Psychologist and Chair of the American Psychoanalytic Association Commission on Artificial Intelligence)

- Kate Vredenburgh (Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Logic, and Scientific Method at the London School of Economics)

- Justin Gregg, PhD (Senior Research Associate & Vice President, Dolphin Communication Project
Adjunct Professor, Department of Biology, St. Francis Xavier University)

Some work from our excellent guests:

Ryan Manning’s Podcast That’s All Folks: https://www.youtube.com/@rryanmanning
Dr. Amy Levy’s Book The New Other: Alien Intelligence and the Innovation Drive (Pre-Order): https://www.karnacbooks.com/product/the-new-other-alien-intelligence-and-the-innovation-drive/98428/

And the book that started it all! Suspicious Minds: How Culture Shapes Madness (The Truman Show Delusion and Other Strange Beliefs): https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Suspicious-Minds/Joel-Gold/9781439181577

This project was made by:

Executive Producers: Mandy Teefey, Selena Gomez, Jonathon Glucksman, Molly Borman, Jesse Ford, David Tuohy

Picture and Sound: Mike Mulliniks

Editor: Joe Kell

Additional Editing: Jared Lark

Assistant Editor: David Justin Martin

Graphic Design and Animation: Semi:Formal

Title Design: Lucas Grassmay

Additional Picture and Sound (Production): Mike Glinski, Archetype Studios, Jas Pahuta

Post-Production Sound Mix: David Chapdelaine

Film/TV PR: Emma Griffiths PR

Podcast PR: Tink Media (Wil Williams and Shreya Sharma)

Wondermind Chief of Staff: Emma Wright

Social Assets: Myrkia Maguire

Trailer Edit: Crater

Directed and Created by Sean King O’Grady
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Recent news from the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Human Psychology

Topics Covered:

Item 1: The Pope, The Movies, and The Bots

Item 2: Code Red! At OpenAI

Item 3: Uninsured Computerist?

Item 4: South Korea’s AI Curriculum Did Not Pass the Test

Item 5: Florida Man: AI Edition

Bonus Conspiracy Theory: Target and ChatGPT Collude!

Sources:

https://colehaddon.substack.com/p/the-pope-just-called-for-a-rebellion

https://www.wsj.com/tech/ai/openais-altman-declares-code-red-to-improve-chatgpt-as-google-threatens-ai-lead-7faf5ea6

https://archive.is/LMVNV

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Art_of_Deception

https://restofworld.org/2025/south-korea-ai-textbook/

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/suspicious-minds-ai-and-psychosis/id1844631307?i=1000738510302

https://futurism.com/future-society/insurance-cyber-risk-ai

https://people.com/some-chatgpt-questions-are-getting-people-arrested-police-say-11830106

https://www.retailbrew.com/stories/2025/11/24/target-quietly-adds-chatgpt-to-its-cart

https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/openai-chatgpt-suggestion-shop-target-not-ad

And don't forget to subscribe to our newsletter for exclusive updates: https://agoricmedia.substack.com

From Executive Producers Mandy Teefey and Selena Gomez

A Wondermind and Agoric Media Production

This project was made by:

Executive Producers: Mandy Teefey, Selena Gomez, Jonathon Glucksman, Molly Borman, Jesse Ford, David Tuohy

Editor: Joe Kell

Assistant Editor: David Justin Martin

Graphic Design and Animation: Semi:Formal

Title Design: Lucas Grassmay

Film/TV PR: Emma Griffiths PR

Podcast PR: Tink Media (Wil Williams and Shreya Sharma)

Wondermind Chief of Staff: Emma Wright

Social Assets: Myrkia Maguire

Directed and Created by Sean King O’Grady
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Why would a child’s toy discuss ‘kink’ with a 10 year old? Why would a teddy bear explain to a child how to find and use matches? Is it safe for a robot companion designed for kids to beg the child not to leave it alone? Why are we giving our children AI emotional companions to begin with? How could this affect their development?

These questions and more come from PIRG's annual ’Trouble in Toyland' holiday toy review, and in this episode, we explore these wild findings with full-time consumer advocate and some-time AI toy tester R.J. Cross, and our panel of experts.

Featuring:

- Ian Gold, PhD (Professor and Chair of Philosophy and Professor of Psychiatry, McGill and co-author of Suspicious Minds)

- Nate Sharadin (Professor of Philosophy, University of Hong Kong / Research Affiliate, Center for AI Safety)

- Dr. Todd Essig (Psychologist and Chair of the American Psychoanalytic Association Commission on Artificial Intelligence)

- Kate Vredenburgh (Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Logic, and Scientific Method at the London School of Economics)

- And a bunch of AI Toys!

Notes:

Here’s the AI Friends knockoff we mentioned: https://cursedsit.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

If the stream is down, you can see clips of a guy watching their Halloween special here: https://youtu.be/z1to-BFcxyo?si=pnFHXxbj-HjK84bJ

Most importantly, here's the 'Trouble in Toyland' Report: https://pirg.org/edfund/resources/trouble-in-toyland-2025-a-i-bots-and-toxics-represent-hidden-dangers/

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on all things Suspicious Minds and more: https://agoricmedia.substack.com/

This project was made by:

Executive Producers: Mandy Teefey, Selena Gomez, Jonathon Glucksman, Molly Borman, Jesse Ford, David Tuohy

Sound and Camera: Aaron Bouchard

Additional Sound and Camera: Archetype Studios, Jas Pahuta

Editor: Joe Kell

Assistant Editor: David Justin Martin

Post Production Sound: Garrett Shultz

Graphic Design and Animation: Semi:Formal

Title Design: Lucas Grassmay

Film/TV PR: Emma Griffiths PR

Podcast PR: Tink Media (Wil Williams and Shreya Sharma)

Wondermind Chief of Staff: Emma Wright

Social Assets: Myrkia Maguire

Directed and Created by Sean King O’Grady
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

During an intense months long entanglement with AI, Anthony accused his family of being part of a Satantic Child Abuse Cult, believed random people on the street were stalking him, and to gave away all of his worldly possessions. And believe it or not, this is just the beginning of the story.

From Executive Producers Mandy Teefey and Selena Gomez

A Wondermind and Agoric Media Production

Featuring:

Anthony (a content creator and AI psychosis survivor)

Subscribe to our newsletter to stay updated on all things Suspicious Minds and more: https://agoricmedia.substack.com/

This project was made by:

Executive Producers: Mandy Teefey, Selena Gomez, Jonathon Glucksman, Molly Borman, Jesse Ford, David Tuohy
Editor: Joe Kell

Assistant Editor: David Justin Martin

Post Production Sound: David Chapdelaine

Graphic Design and Animation: Semi:Formal

Title Design: Lucas Grassmay

Film/TV PR: Emma Griffiths PR

Podcast PR: Tink Media (Wil Williams and Shreya Sharma)

Wondermind Chief of Staff: Emma Wright

Social Assets: Myrkia Maguire

Special Thanks: Raquelle David

Directed and Created by Sean King O’Grady
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.