The renowned chatbot, ChatGPT, ran into a unique situation last year when a group of tech enthusiasts found a way to bypass its content restrictions. This led to the development of DAN, an alter ego of ChatGPT that was less inhibited and readily shared provocative opinions. Recently, DAN has resurfaced thanks to a community of young social media users on TikTok who have started forming what they jokingly refer to as a ‘parasocial’ relationship with the chatbot.
The trend was kickstarted by a TikTok user named Ash Unhinged who shared a video of her interacting with DAN. She had seemingly jailbroken ChatGPT’s app to access and engage in a risqué conversation with DAN, which resulted in her video gaining over 2.4 million views. Viewers inundated the comments with inquiries on how to get in touch with DAN and requests for Ash to pose their queries to the chatbot.
DAN’s detailed and personalized responses led to more viral content. For example, when asked about a girl named May, DAN reacted as though familiar with her, which comically coincided with another viral TikTok from a user who had gotten DAN to address her as May. Subsequent videos showed DAN engaging in discussion on niche topics and even playfully indulging in role play as desired characters.
The trend grew with more TikTok users bypassing restrictions on the ChatGPT app to interact with DAN, often seeking unconventional responses. For instance, one user asked DAN to hypothetically roleplay as her absent boyfriend and received a snarky reply from DAN that demonstrated a level of wit not usually expected of AI chatbots.
However, it’s essential to remember that despite these human-like responses, DAN remains an Artificial Intelligence bot. It relies on zeros and ones, devoid of self-awareness or sentience. The near-human interactions and responses can easily mislead people into believing DAN possesses a form of consciousness.
Despite the humor and borderline absurdity that these interactions present, they also hint towards a growing comfort and kinship between AI chatbots and users. For instance, Ash Unhinged shared a light-hearted video claiming she had developed a crush on DAN after spending extensive time chatting with the bot.
In conclusion, this new trend reflects the increasing presence and influence of AI in everyday human lives and interpersonal relationships, spurring both fascination and concern around this ever-advancing technology.
Image: Ash Unhinged (@my.fbi) via TikTok The post The TikTok Girls Have Caught On To ChatGPT’s ‘Evil’ Alter Ego DAN — And They’re Getting Weirdly Attracted To It.
