My Response to John Oliver's Recent Episode on "AI Chatbots"
Hello! I'm a law professor at the University of Akron School of Law where I write about technology law, the First Amendment, and recently, suicide. First, I just wanted to say how much I appreciate that this community exists. As someone who has struggled with my mental health and suicidal ideation all of my life, I saw chatbots early-on as a potential breakthrough for support. The perspectives of this community are refreshing and quite eye-opening.
I wasn't impressed with John Oliver's recent episode on AI Chatbots. I especially didn't love the way he approached the discussion about suicide, and I didn't appreciate how he seemed to pathologize chatbot users throughout the segment. I just published a response here: https://www.techdirt.com/2026/05/18/we-need-a-more-serious-discussion-about-suicide-and-ai-chatbots/
Thank you to this community for your insights, a few of which I shared in the piece.