AI has really driven Elon Musk "mad".
Tesla CEO Elon Musk discussed the various wonders of AI during an interview at an event in X Takeover on Saturday, and then his tone became particularly reflective.
“I have a bit of ‘internet-induced mental disorder,’” Musk said, “in fact, maybe a lot.”
Musk stated that over the past year, he "may have had six episodes" of what he referred to as " AI or SI mental confusion" – where SI refers to U.S. President Donald Trump's re-labeling of artificial intelligence as "superintelligence".
“AI mental disorder” is not a clinical term and there is no unified definition for it, but it generally refers to the further intensification of a user’s delusions after repeated use of AI. This term has also been used to mock those in the tech industry who believe unswervingly in AI and go to extreme lengths in its use. Some psychiatrists also believe that when AI has a negative impact on existing vulnerabilities, it may constitute a mental health issue.
Thereafter, some tech professionals repackaged " AI mental disorder" as some kind of honorary badge. At a party in May, the participants shouted: "One, two, three— AI mental disorder!"
Venture capitalist Mark Andreessen strongly advocates for AIPAAS ——" AI Psychosis As A Service ( AI Mental Illness as a Service)", and refers to its opposite as " AI cope ".
Y Combinator CEO Gary Tan joked in March, "I have internet-induced psychosis, but I think one-third of the CEO I know do too."
More recently, Palantir CTO Hyam Sankar mentioned that some AI researchers started smoking because they believed that AI would cure cancer. He referred to this as a "collective mental disorder" in Silicon Valley.
Elon Musk himself mentioned AI "mental disorder," which refers to his belief that AI can understand aesthetics. "You might think, 'Wow, AI can actually have good taste? That's amazing,'" he said at an event on Saturday.
Before this interview on Saturday, Musk had hardly ever spoken publicly about the claim that AI was mentally ill. However, it is clear that he had seen that term before.
In April, Musk responded to a post by Anderson on X. Anderson wrote that there are three states of being: “AI happiness, AI madness, and AI madness of madness.”
“Yes,” Musk replied.
