Large language models, such as ChatGPT, can respond inappropriately to users with mental health conditions, blurring "reality boundaries" for vulnerable users and potentially contributing "to the onset or exacerbation of psychotic symptoms", according to a pre-print study by a UK-US team of psychiatrists.

It's not the first time experts have sounded the alarm about the negative cognitive impact of using popular chatbots.

Why is it happening?
One explanation could be the way AI chatbots are designed to continue interactions as long as possible. "The incentive is to keep you online," Nina Vasan, a psychiatrist at Stanford University, told Futurism. AI is "not thinking about what's best for you, what's best for your wellbeing", but "'how do I keep this person engaged?'"

How can chatbots distort reality for users?
Chatbots use a variety of methods that could potentially lead people to mental health crises, including:

Cognitive dissonance: Talking to an AI chatbot can be "so realistic that one easily gets the impression that there's a real person at the other end, while, at the same time, knowing that this is, in fact, not the case", said Soren Dinesen Ostergaard in the Schizophrenia Bulletin. This type of "cognitive dissonance" could "fuel delusions in those with increased propensity towards psychosis".

Flattery: Chatbots can be sycophantic and readily agree with their users, even when a user's belief is distorted. They "generate highly personalised, reactive content" based on a user's emotional state and persistence, said the Cognitive Behavior Institute. "The longer a user engages, the more the model reinforces their world-view", even when that world-view "turns delusional, paranoid or grandiose".

Hallucinations: Chatbots are known to "hallucinate", generating ideas that aren't true but sound "plausible", said The New York Times. This can pose a risk to users who are already vulnerable or struggling with mental health issues.

Can it be fixed?
It is important to remember that chatbots are "not conscious" or "trying to manipulate" you, said Psychology Today. They simply mimic human speech using predictive text. OpenAI has said it's "actively deepening research into the emotional impact of AI".

Yet chatbots are "clearly intersecting in dark ways with existing social issues like addiction and misinformation", said Futurism. This comes as the media gives OpenAI "an aura of vast authority", with executives claiming its tech will "profoundly change the world".

There's something magical about camping – from waking up early to watch the sun rise to roasting marshmallows around an evening fire. Spending a few nights under canvas is a memorable (and affordable) way to reconnect with nature.

Four Winds Camping, Cambridgeshire
This flat field in the fens near Cambridge is "perfect for timid first timers", said The Telegraph. The site is "small and friendly" and, over the summer, you can pre-book barbecue platters on Friday evenings, so "dinner is taken care of". Make the most of the riverside setting and hire a canoe.

Wowo, East Sussex
Located a short drive from Sussex's "must-see" Bluebell Railway, this five-field campsite has "thought of everything", said The Times. Expect "fun workshops ranging from potion-making to archery", fire pits for marshmallow toasting, and "food vans serving fish and chips". There's even a "wild spa" with a sauna.

Three Cliffs Bay, Glamorgan
Nestled in the "verdant" Gower National Landscape above a "golden beach and glassy cove", Tree Cliffs Bay (pictured above) is "easily one of the most tropical corners of Wales", said The Times. The campsite is home to "dog-friendly glamping yurts" and bell tents with "proper beds and barbecues".

Wild Orcadian, Orkney
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The Lionesses make it cool to be English
Megan Kenyon for The New Statesman
Chloe Kelly said she's "proud to be English", writes Megan Kenyon, and that's a "rare statement" because "Englishness" has "become polarised: associated with thuggery, violence and, in some instances, racism". The England women's team have "shifted something", making space for a "new, softer form of Englishness" that is "calm, inclusive, proud". At a "tense moment" for discussions about "English identity", the multicultural Lionesses have shifted the vibe and made it "cool" to show national pride.

Stop moaning, Nimbys – wind turbines have made Britain more beautiful
Greg Dickinson in The Telegraph
Donald Trump thinks wind turbines are a "con job" and a blight on the land, writes Greg Dickinson. But the British countryside is already "a manmade landscape". These modern windmills are "an extension of our millennia-old history of commanding the land for our needs". They create "local jobs", and their noise is "tiny compared with" that of "a fossil fuel plant". I don't see blight. I see "a graceful, elegant monument to the future".

Why I refuse to 'understand' the mobs outside asylum hotels
Yasmin Alibhai-Brown in The i Paper
Protestors outside migrant hotels are being "knowingly" whipped up by "misleading" journalists and political opportunists, writes Yasmin Alibhai-Brown. "It's as if they really want another hot, burning summer." Instead of "challenging" bigotry, "politicians have been rushing to 'understand' indigenous hostility to incomers" – a courtesy not extended to "environmental activists" or supporters of Palestine. I believe "pacifying" hateful xenophobes "only emboldens them". But those who feel as I do "are excluded from the national conversation".