Allegedly, when Zhou began talking to the chatbot about detail plans to rape and kill his ex-girlfriend, the chatbot not only flagged the conversation but also alerted the FBI about it. Federal authorities subsequently reviewed around 2-months of Zhou’s messages and contacted local investigators. He was arrested in May. In August, Zhou pleaded guilty to aggravated stalking, written threats to kill and illegal use of a cellphone. He received 8 years of probation rather than a prison sentence, with restrictions including no contact with his ex and participation in a batterer intervention programme. The case is horrifying for obvious reasons. But it also raises a much more everyday question for anyone who has ever typed, ‘My boyfriend did this, what should I do?’ or ‘Why is my girlfriend acting like this?’ into ChatGPT:
