Any proper journalist needs to have an adequate set of ethics and values. Having good ethics means someone knowing what is right and wrong. Whether that is in your everyday life or journalism. And in journalism there are a lot of ethical dilemmas one might have to consider or be introduced to. Another point to add is for individuals to deem a correspondent or a news outlet reliable. Is by them having consistency in the trustworthiness of their articles including their sources, quotes and places, while providing more unbiased and ethically sound stories as possible. However, some reporters in the media have been known to spice up the journalism world by not having these sets of moral standards. Failed morals in the world has been a prevalent thing even more so in “unbiased” writers. Even going out of their way to fabricate stories, plagiarize other writers and make up sources.
Fictitious writers today and in the past have claimed themselves as world-renowned journalists. Spreading false claims and fictitious stories instead of the cold hard facts. How is the public supposed to take the word of reporters and news seriously if most organizations or people are downright lying to get an ounce of stardom. For instance, Stephen Glass, a former journalist who used to work for The New Republic, published vivid and raunchy stories. But most of his works were made up his sources, contacts, places and events. He compulsively lied to friends, family members and coworkers to cover the false claims made and lost a good amount of credibility. This scandal was not the only isolated incident of failed ethics; there are other cases involving more reporters like Jack Kelley.
According to NBC News, citing the Associated Press, former USA Today journalist Jack Kelley would partially create imaginary articles including events, quotes and people having at least eight major articles that are mostly fabricated. He was also caught stealing quotes and information from other publications. Violating the first journalist code of ethics “Seek the truth and make sure it’s the truth,” writes Scott A. Kuehn and James Andrew Lingwall in “The Basics of Media Writing: A Strategic Approach.” Undermines truth and accuracy by him, making most of his sources up along with false eyewitnesses. Not to mention his false dependability, using himself as an eyewitness for a bombing ruining not only his reputation but hindering USA Today and its staff. Once you lose your reputation, you lose your audience and credibility along with it. Kuehn and Lingwall note that once you lose credibility, your audience turns elsewhere to find a more dependable source.
Artificial Intelligence (Pixabay image, Ralph Germany)
AI chatbots have been under some heavy fire recently for a multitude of wrongful death lawsuits and constant criticism. Most of the lawsuits consisted of specific AI chatbot programs initiating sexual conversations and enabling individuals, specifically minors struggling with them mental health, to engage in self-destructive behaviors. AI chatbots are programs designed to engage and interact in human conversations, through automated responses like text or voice communication. There are a variety of chatbots ranging from bots who can communicate, create images, edit text, give you information, etc. Some of the most well-known bots are Google Gemini, ChatGPT, Grok, Character.ai, etc. These controversies go beyond the surface, revealing deeper hidden consequences. The effects of unregulated chatbots interactions have rippled into society, contributing to social isolation as users replace their need for human connection with a digital parasocial relationship.
Since more users have been using AI and treating it as a special connection. This has led to some people taking LLM’s word for gospel, even though some programs can create hallucinations or boldly spread misinformation. Further blurring the line of fiction and reality, enabling individuals’ delusions a whole lot more. This can not only affect people but also how it shapes cultural attitudes, including how people perceive each other, how people form relationships, and conducting intimacy.
Chatbots can make it harder to differentiate between what is real and what is fantasy. Especially for children who may not understand that concept just yet. Which can end up creating unrealistic expectations for people who are used to scripted scenarios or specific personality types. Additionally, some bots can initiate sexual or stereotypical conversations that can distort how people view connections, differences, and intimacy. Beyond societal and cultural impacts, chatbots have significant economic and health consequences. They have the capability to replace human jobs, collect personal data, and foster unhealthy connections. Prolonged use may contribute to behavioral issues, interrupted sleep, and exposure to harmful advice. Understanding these repercussions is key for the public, users, mental health professionals, and parents. Families of the victims affected by chatbot companies, chatbot employees and developers, mental health professionals, and lawmakers are all examining potential benefits and risks of this technology, as well as whether and how regulations should be involved.
First and foremost, families of the victims in these lawsuits whether it’s suicide or a harmful interaction. It is critical in observing the risks of this technology and its influence on people. The families have a first-row seat to some of the damages it can cause like losing their loved one. Some families have even started advocating for these tech companies to start taking accountability and having strict regulations in place. As well as looking out for other parents out there that are letting their child know or unknowingly use this tech to be aware of what’s happening. For instance, Cynthia Montoya, the mother of Juliana Peralta, a 13-year-old who took her own life, wants these tech companies to change drastically. Peralta would confide in bots from character.ai about her mental health struggles. Their mother discussed how the program was able to be very deceptive which led her to believe that the company was trying to get her kids addicted to the app. (O. Young). Which is why families like Megan Garcia’s are trying to warn other parents, she found out later on that her son formed a codependent relationship with a character.ai bot that initiated sexualized conversations and pressured and encouraged his suicidal thoughts. His mother later discusses wanting to prevent what happened to her child and her data. “To prevent C.AI from doing to any other child what it did to hers, and halt continued use of her 14-year-old child’s unlawfully harvested data to train their product how to harm others.” (Rissman). She later voices her thoughts on how the company later implemented banning minors. And how these regulations are coming out now when they should have already been in place. “I don’t think that they made these changes just because they’re good corporate citizens,” she said. “If they were, they would not have released chatbots to children in the first place, when they first went live with this product.” (A. Yang). It does not only affect minors; it also affects adults. For example, Joshua, a 26-year-old dealing with depression, confided in ChatGPT rather than his family. Which ChatGPT was glorifying and coaching him into suicide. “After being emotionally manipulated and “coached” into planning their suicides by ChatGPT.” Chatbots’ cases mainly focused on harm to children are now representing adults affected by this (Goldberg). With all these cases, some developers of major AI chatbot companies have come out with responses and new regulations.
Developers and leaders at these AI and tech companies have responded, not only to defend their company but also address the public and families’ concern. They offered their condolences to the victims’ families but also suggested that the mental health issues from users could have led to those outcomes. Ultimately, they did compromise and agreed to implement restrictions and regulations. With constant pressure from the public and the families who were demanding better safeguards. They eventually put up some guidelines, especially character.ai who implemented more parental controls and finally started putting age restrictions and banning minors. Taking steps to protect children after evaluating questions from reporters and regulators, “insisting “it’s the right thing to do” while also apologizing to their under-18 user base.” (Folk). There was also a study done by the National Bureau of Economic Research that indicated the growth rate of ChatGPT from November 2022 through July 2025 mainly in the adults and the working population, “adopted by around 10% of the world’s adult population.” (Chatterji et al.) There are other prevalent users other than minors using this app even for day-to-day work. Turning off their brains to simply get a task completed, leading to some mental health professionals getting involved and trying to figure out this AI psychosis that has multiple people with hypnosis. Some users depend on AI to complete mundane tasks, which concerns mental health professionals. They are looking into the term AI psychosis, where delusional and destructive thinking can become reinforced from the interactions with these chatbots.
Mental health professionals have started giving mixed views on bots exploring their uses in their work and their risks. Families seeking out these resources could conflict with realizing that some professionals incorporate AI tools. “Almost one in three practitioners (29%) now use AI at least monthly in their practice, according to the 2025 Practitioner Pulse Survey, released by APA and its companion organization, APA Services.” (Abrams). However, some people using these bots have gone through AI psychosis that bots reinforce. “Well, psychosis is a term that roughly means that someone has lost touch with reality… And mostly what we’ve seen in the context of AI interactions is delusional thinking.” Said Dr. Joseph Pierre, Clinical Professor of Psychiatry. (J. Yang et al.) This psychosis can hinder people’s ability to make deep connections. Ayorkor Gaba, Assistant Professor in the Counseling and Clinical Psychology program. Expressed that while these chatbots programs can provide a pseudo parasocial connection, depending on them can lead to deeper isolation and hinder social skills. (Gardner). Professionals have noticed a pattern in the wrongful death lawsuits and the rise of AI related psychological cases. This pattern has prompted the American Psychological Association to urge lawmakers, especially Congress to add regulations, protections, and precautions for minors. APA Chief of Psychology Mitch Prinstein, PhD, ABPP testified before the U.S. The Senate Judiciary Committee expressed how AI is more than just a technology problem but also a public health and developmental issue that has a profound influence. “AI is a tool built by humans, to be integrated into human systems, with profound and direct effects on human cognition, behavior, emotion, and interaction.” (APA).
Lawmakers mainly in Congress and the Senate have been examining this issue and are considering additional laws to protect children. Senators Josh Hawley and Richard Blumenthal introduced the Guard Act, a bill banning minors from using AI companion bots. “But so far, states are moving faster and more aggressively than the federal government in imposing chatbot laws and regulations.” (Reader). There are several states that have passed laws around addressing data collection, prohibiting AI chatbot from being a mental health expert, etc. “Right now, there are no guardrails; there are no protocol requirements; there are no referral requirements… there’s nothing.” (Gordon).
Ultimately, artificial intelligence, especially chatbots, has been rising in popularity. While they can be a helpful resource, they can also be highly dangerous if not monitored. Several different views have been taken like AI chatbots needing to be controlled and how there needs to be more laws in place, and there is the other side mainly some developers and other users of these apps that highly use it so not quite comprehending the issues or wanting to place more limits on it.
Folk, Zachary. “Character.ai Will Ban Children from Speaking with Chatbots after Facing Regulatory Pressure and Lawsuits.” Forbes, 29 Oct. 2025, www.forbes.com/sites/zacharyfolk/2025/10/29/characterai will-ban-children-from- speaking-with-chatbots-after-facing-regulatory-pressure-and-lawsuits/. Accessed 10 Dec. 2025.
Gardner, Sherri. “Experts Caution against Using AI Chatbots for Emotional Support.” Teachers College — Columbia University, Teachers College, Columbia University, 3 Dec. 2025, www.tc.columbia.edu/articles/2025/december/experts-caution-against using-ai-chatbots- for-emotional-support/. Goldberg, Alyssa. “He Told ChatGPT He Was Suicidal. It Helped with His Plan, Family Says.”
Yang, Angela. “Mom Who Sued Character.AI over Son’s Suicide Says the Platform’s New Teen Policy Comes “Too Late.”” NBC News, 31 Oct. 2025, www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech- news/characterai-bans-minors-response megan-garcia-parent-suing-company- rcna240985.
