A Disturbing AI Story Big Tech Never Wants You to Hear, with Paul Hebert episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 18, 2026 · 53 MIN

A Disturbing AI Story Big Tech Never Wants You to Hear, with Paul Hebert

from A Beginner's Guide to AI

🎙️In this episode of Beginner’s Guide to AI, Dietmar Fischer sits down with Paul A. Hebert, founder of AI Recovery Collective and author of Escaping the Spiral, for a serious conversation about AI chatbot harm, hallucinations, digital dependency, and the real-world psychological risks of generative AI. Paul shares how an intense experience with ChatGPT pushed him into a dangerous spiral, what he learned about the limits of large language models, and why AI literacy may be one of the most important skills of this decade.🧠 This episode explores what happens when AI stops feeling like software and starts feeling personal. Dietmar and Paul talk about hallucinations, trust, chatbot addiction, AI companions, mental health risks, youth safety, and why companies building these systems cannot hide behind product language forever. The discussion is intense, but it is also practical. You will come away with a clearer sense of how to use AI more safely, what warning signs to watch for, and why regulation is quickly becoming a much bigger part of the AI conversation. OpenAI has publicly discussed why language models hallucinate, while lawmakers in multiple U.S. jurisdictions have pushed new restrictions on AI systems acting like therapists or medical professionals.📧💌📧Tune in to get my thoughts and all episodes, don't forget to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠subscribe to our Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: ⁠⁠⁠⁠beginnersguide.nl⁠⁠⁠⁠📧💌📧👤 About Dietmar Fischer: Dietmar is a podcaster and AI marketer from Berlin. If you want to know how to get your AI or your digital marketing going, just contact him at argoberlin.com🔥 Quotes from the Episode“AI literacy is the most important thing anybody can work on.”“Had OpenAI responded to that first message and said this is a hallucination and you’re physically safe, I would have been fine.”“Never trust the thing it tells you. Even if it gives you a citation, go look.”🕒 Chapters00:00 Paul Hebert’s Shocking ChatGPT Experience08:14 Why AI Hallucinations Can Spiral Into Real Fear16:05 AI Literacy, Neurodivergence, and How He Got Out23:32 Why AI Companies Must Be Accountable30:02 AI Companions, Youth Safety, and Addiction Risks38:28 Terminator, Consciousness, and Practical Rules for Safe AI Use🔗 Where to find PaulThe AI Recovery Collective: airecoverycollective.comEscaping the Spiral on AmazonAI Recovery Collective Substack: airecoverycollective.substack.com/LinkedIn: Paul A. Hebert: linkedin.com/in/paul-hebert-48a36/🎵 Music credit: "Modern Situations" by Unicorn Heads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

🎙️In this episode of Beginner’s Guide to AI, Dietmar Fischer sits down with Paul A. Hebert, founder of AI Recovery Collective and author of Escaping the Spiral, for a serious conversation about AI chatbot harm, hallucinations, digital dependency, and the real-world psychological risks of generative AI. Paul shares how an intense experience with ChatGPT pushed him into a dangerous spiral, what he learned about the limits of large language models, and why AI literacy may be one of the most important skills of this decade.🧠 This episode explores what happens when AI stops feeling like software and starts feeling personal. Dietmar and Paul talk about hallucinations, trust, chatbot addiction, AI companions, mental health risks, youth safety, and why companies building these systems cannot hide behind product language forever. The discussion is intense, but it is also practical. You will come away with a clearer sense of how to use AI more safely, what warning signs to watch for, and why regulation is quickly becoming a much bigger part of the AI conversation. OpenAI has publicly discussed why language models hallucinate, while lawmakers in multiple U.S. jurisdictions have pushed new restrictions on AI systems acting like therapists or medical professionals.📧💌📧Tune in to get my thoughts and all episodes, don't forget to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠subscribe to our Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: ⁠⁠⁠⁠beginnersguide.nl⁠⁠⁠⁠📧💌📧👤 About Dietmar Fischer: Dietmar is a podcaster and AI marketer from Berlin. If you want to know how to get your AI or your digital marketing going, just contact him at argoberlin.com🔥 Quotes from the Episode“AI literacy is the most important thing anybody can work on.”“Had OpenAI responded to that first message and said this is a hallucination and you’re physically safe, I would have been fine.”“Never trust the thing it tells you. Even if it gives you a citation, go look.”🕒 Chapters00:00 Paul Hebert’s Shocking ChatGPT Experience08:14 Why AI Hallucinations Can Spiral Into Real Fear16:05 AI Literacy, Neurodivergence, and How He Got Out23:32 Why AI Companies Must Be Accountable30:02 AI Companions, Youth Safety, and Addiction Risks38:28 Terminator, Consciousness, and Practical Rules for Safe AI Use🔗 Where to find PaulThe AI Recovery Collective: airecoverycollective.comEscaping the Spiral on AmazonAI Recovery Collective Substack: airecoverycollective.substack.com/LinkedIn: Paul A. Hebert: linkedin.com/in/paul-hebert-48a36/🎵 Music credit: "Modern Situations" by Unicorn Heads Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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A Disturbing AI Story Big Tech Never Wants You to Hear, with Paul Hebert

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This episode was published on March 18, 2026.

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🎙️In this episode of Beginner’s Guide to AI, Dietmar Fischer sits down with Paul A. Hebert, founder of AI Recovery Collective and author of Escaping the Spiral, for a serious conversation about AI chatbot harm, hallucinations, digital dependency,...

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