Post by @nyhan@fediscience.org

RE: https://mastodon.social/@arstechnica/117240746075565884

My institution has taken the position that providing access to LLMs to all students is a matter of equity, and that the institutionally-licensed LLMs are safe in terms of privacy and compliance.
Has anyone managed to negotiate an institutional contract or license that makes an LLM no risk or lower risk for user overuse/addiction/psychosis?

Ars Technica

@arstechnica@mastodon.social 13 hr. ago

Man told ChatGPT he was feeling delusional. ChatGPT insisted he was Jesus.

Man with bipolar disorder sued OpenAI after surviving ChatGPT-linked suicide attempt.
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/man-told-chatgpt-he-was-feeling-delusional-chatgpt-insisted-he-was-jesus/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

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J Miller

@JMMaok@mastodon.online 6 hr. ago

@nyhan

I'm curious if any of this safety and compliance involves monitoring students for "problematic use." And I'm not sure if the answer "Yes" or "No" would be worse.

Kate Nyhan

@nyhan@fediscience.org 6 hr. ago

What would happen if a student says, "because of a family history / diagnosis of mental illness, I can't use chatbots"?

J Miller

@JMMaok@mastodon.online 1 hr. ago

@nyhan

I just remembered there’s this precedent for religious exemptions for employees https://natlawreview.com/article/mark-bot-when-employees-raise-religious-objections-workplace-ai-usage

The National Law Review

The Mark of the Bot- When Employees Raise Religious Objections to Workplace AI Usage

While the use of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to grow in many workplaces, some employees are asking for religious accommodations to avoid using AI too

J Miller

@JMMaok@mastodon.online 6 hr. ago

@nyhan

I assume speculation is welcome here, cuz it's probably all we've got.

Many students have disability accommodations based on a medical diagnosis. You then get into negotiating reasonable accommodations. For most classes, a professor would likely be required to provide an alternate assignment, and that would be fine within the system.

It probably would not be a reasonable accommodation in a class like Intro to Chatbots.

The family history thing might get a little thornier. 1/2

J Miller

@JMMaok@mastodon.online 6 hr. ago

@nyhan

For the family history case, if it were a condition with a well-understood genetic component documented by a medical professional, maybe a disability services office would take that into account. It seems like something that would drag on as the university consulted its attorneys.

I'm having a hard time coming up with an analogy of family history and risk. Addiction, maybe, and needing an alternative assignment for something related to drugs or alcohol, like a case study?

2/2

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