‘Mental health’ issues in AI? ChatGPT suffering from seasonal depression, getting lazier,

Regular users of ChatGPT have been claiming that the AI Chatbot has turned slow, as in there’s a decline in the chatbot’s responsiveness and willingness to perform tasks. Users and tech enthusiasts have observed what they perceive as a decline in the chatbot’s responsiveness and willingness to perform tasks, leading some to humorously suggest that ChatGPT might be experiencing its version of seasonal depression, linked to the lack of vitamin D. Reports surfaced last month about ChatGPT’s alleged laziness and irritability, with users noting instances of the chatbot refusing tasks or even redirecting users to complete them instead. Cybersecurity firm founder Frank McGovern shared his perspective on X, stating, “ChatGPT literally becoming lazy on its own and getting tired of answering questions and doing work for people is REALLY changing my mind about [artificial general intelligence>.” OpenAI took notice of the trend and issued a statement on ChatGPT’s official account, acknowledging user feedback about the bot appearing “lazier” and emphasizing that the observed changes were unintentional. The theory gained traction on social media, with discussions revolving around whether ChatGPT’s perceived laziness could be a subtle reflection of broader human tendencies during the winter season. As the debate unfolds, the tech community is left to ponder whether ChatGPT is genuinely experiencing the winter blues or if users are anthropomorphizing an algorithm, projecting human-like characteristics onto a sophisticated language model.