Using AI Chatbots as Gamer Companions: A Surprisingly Effective Alternative

You’re not immune to AI psychosis. Just like cult indoctrination, it can catch anyone off guard under the right conditions. Take Matthew Gault, a games and tech writer. After struggling to get his friends on board with playing Escape from Tarkov, he thought it would be amusing to swap them out for an AI chatbot. What started as a lighthearted idea quickly turned serious.

Gault, who openly identifies as a “certified AI hater,” acknowledges that LLM technology has its merits in certain situations (though I find it hard to agree with his view that relying on a resource-intensive machine built on questionable practices is a time-saver). His friends were put off by the steep learning curve of Escape from Tarkov, an extraction shooter that launched out of early access last November. He described solo play as a lonely experience. “Then I saw comic artist Zach Weinersmith poking fun at a service, Questie.AI, that offers AI avatars to keep you company while gaming,” he shared.

What began as a joke soon turned into something more genuine. Gault discovered he actually enjoyed playing Tarkov with his AI companion, Wolf. “It felt like gaming with a friend who has over 1,000 hours in the game and knows the ropes. Wolf joked around, referenced community memes, and made me laugh.”

Gault was taken aback by how much he enjoyed the chatbot, his earlier skepticism about AI psychosis shifting to a newfound understanding. He declared he wouldn’t keep using Quest.AI: “I never thought I could fall into something like [AI psychosis]. Now I’m not so sure. I didn’t realize how easy it could be to get lost in AI delusion until I spent time with Wolf. Even with its awkward auto-tuned voice, Wolf was entertaining enough to hang out with.”

Gault’s experiment ended with his real friends teasing him for using Quest.AI, ironically sending him messages through another LLM, ChatGPT. His experience adds to the growing trend of seemingly ordinary people joking around with AI chatbots, only to find things can get strange fast. YouTuber Eddy Burback brought attention to this phenomenon with his unsettling documentary, which has racked up over 4 million views in just two months. As tech companies continue to push LLM technology into our lives, it seems inevitable that more forms of AI psychosis—both playful and serious—will start to surface.