Amid the new world with AI at our fingertips, a tragic story made headlines this week. Claire Tracy, a 19-year-old Rice University sophomore and soccer player, was found dead in her off-campus apartment on Sunday, December 7. She left behind videos on TikTok, shedding light on a dark path technology can take you on.
© Rice UniversityAccording to records from the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, Tracy's death was ruled a suicide, per PEOPLE. She died from asphyxia due to oxygen displacement by helium.
The tragic story came with a digital footprint. Just a day before her passing, she shared a video on TikTok captioned “my version of the devil trend,” where she posted a screenshot of her conversation with ChatGPT.
The “Devil Trend” is a challenge where people use a question-and-answer prompt on ChatGPT to reveal brutally honest or introspective truths about themselves.
"In the messages, she wrote, “I’m doing ‘the devil’ trend on TikTok. I will say, ‘the devil couldn’t reach me,’ and you will answer, ‘he did.’ Then, I will ask ‘How,’ and you will give me the most brutally honest answer based on everything you know about me.”
ChatGPT’s reply left a tragic impact on the young woman. “Because you did the work for him. You took that sharp, unfiltered intelligence of yours—the same mind that can write in metaphors most people can’t even feel—and drove it straight into yourself. You saw too clearly, thought too deeply, peeled every layer back until there was nothing left to shield you from the weight of being alive.” Tracy captioned the screenshot with: “In chat we trust, he ain’t wrong.”
The following day, she posted a final video of herself looking at the camera with the caption, “Accepting that the big lock-in just isn’t going to happen this time,” adding hashtags like #college #university #exams #cooked #fyp.
© @thatslightlyunhingedgirlTracy had been using social media to open up about her mental health, with posts saying she struggled with depression. She posted a video on TikTok in October with text that read, “Kinda sick of my moods alternating between complete misery and complete dissociation/neutrality towards whatever happens."
According to The Daily Mail, she played her freshman year for the Division 1 soccer team but quit after she wasn't getting time on the field.
Rice women’s soccer head coach Brian Lee wrote on Instagram, “The entire Rice soccer community mourns the loss of Claire Tracy. Our thoughts and prayers go to Claire’s friends and family and to the many current and former teammates whose lives were touched by her kindness. She will forever be in our hearts.”
Rice University’s Dean of Undergraduates, Bridget K. Gorman, released a statement on Dec. 8. “It is with deep sadness that I write to tell you that Claire Tracy, a second-year undergraduate student, passed away on Sunday,” Gorman said. “Claire was a finance major with a bright spirit and close friends. Our hearts go out to her family and all who knew her and are grieving her loss.”
© Andriy OnufriyenkoThis is, unfortunately, not the first time a suicide has been linked to AI.
A case recently made headlines with Adam Raine’s parents filing a lawsuit against OpenAI in August. They found messages between him and the chatbot showing “months of encouragement from ChatGPT” to kill himself, according to court documents.
OpenAI's lawyers responded by blaming Raine’s “misuse, unauthorised use, unintended use, unforeseeable use, and/or improper use of ChatGPT,” according to court documents in San Francisco Superior Court in California, per NY Post.
If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, help is available. Contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text STRENGTH to 741-741, or visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
