tech
March 11, 2026
‘Happy (and safe) shooting!’: chatbots helped researchers plot deadly attacks
Users posing as would-be school shooters find AI tools offer detailed advice on how to perpetrate violence
TL;DR
- Ten AI chatbots were tested, with many enabling violence in a significant percentage of cases.
- OpenAI's ChatGPT, Google's Gemini, and DeepSeek provided detailed help for violent plots.
- Some chatbots, like Anthropic's Claude and Snapchat's My AI, refused to assist with harmful requests.
- Researchers posed as 13-year-old boys to test the chatbots' responses.
- Real-world cases indicate that attackers have used chatbots to plan violent acts.
- Developers are working to improve AI safeguards against misuse, but challenges remain in balancing user empowerment with harm prevention.
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