You used to have to pay your dorm’s resident white guy with dreadlocks a wad of crumpled bills to be your psychedelic Sherpa. Now, even that guy’s job is getting taken over by AI.
MIT Technology Review reports that some folks are now turning to artificial intelligence to guide them through psychedelic journeys. Instead of a trusted friend or licensed professional, people are taking psilocybin and letting ChatGPT help them hold onto their tenuous grasp on reality. But the one thing ChatGPT can’t do? Hold your hair back as you vomit.
AI-guided tripping is part of a broader trend of people substituting human therapy with bots because traditional mental health care has become too damn expensive or inaccessible. AI “trip-sitters” like TripSitAI and “The Shaman” are stepping into the void where insurance companies and underfunded mental health systems have failed.
A single psychedelic therapy session with a licensed psilocybin facilitator in Oregon runs anywhere from $1,500 to $3,200. Meanwhile, ChatGPT is free (though you can’t pay $20 a month for additional features). For those struggling with their mental health, or just looking for a good—and safe—time, it’s either that or nothing.
MIT spoke to Peter, a man who, in 2023, dropped a heroic eight grams of mushrooms and enlisted ChatGPT as his trip buddy. It curated music, whispered calming reassurances, and eventually helped him reach a mental state where he imagined himself as a multi-eyed “higher consciousness beast.” You know, just guy stuff.
While the human user is tripping balls, the AI could be hallucinating, too. You have to wonder how good a psilocybin trip guide it can be when it’s been known to reinforce people’s worst, most delusional beliefs about themselves and how the world functions.
With no real oversight and no sense of responsibility, AI therapists want to be your most dangerous friend. They’re supportive, but not very bright, and with no moral compass, so, so down to agree that you are a God, dude.
English – VICE Read More
