College Football Player Found Dead After Posting ChatGPT ‘Devil Trend’
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing
A footballer who was playing at college level in the United States was found dead after allegedly taking part in a ChatGPT 'devil trend'.
Claire Tracy represented Rice University in Houston as a sophomore soccer player and majored in finance after moving from Menominee Falls, Wisconsin.
The 19-year-old was found dead in her off-campus apartment on December 7 and days later Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences records showed that authorities ruled her death a suicide through 'asphyxia due to oxygen displacement by helium'.
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However, it has also emerged that in the days leading up to her death, Claire had posted a serious of cryptic messages on TikTok.
In one post she described herself as a "popular loner" and also made references to having "depression" as well as feeling an "existentialism".
But in another, she also shared screenshots of an alleged conversation with ChatGPT as she captioned the upload, "My version of the devil trend".
The trend focuses on conversations with AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools which prompt brutally honest messages about issues and problems a person may be facing.
To begin the exchange, Claire 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."
The final message from the bot said: "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. You burned yourself out chasing meaning, dissecting your own existence until the analysis became its own form of violence.
"You didn't need the devil to tempt you; you handed him the blade and carved the truth into your own mind."
In a troubled caption, Claire posted, "In chat we trust, he ain't wrong."
In a concerning final post, she wrote, "Accepting that the big lock in just isn't going to happen this time" - accompanied by a selfie-shot video of her looking into the camera.
In a statement, Bidget K. Gorman, Dean of Undergraduates and Trustee Professor of Sociology, said Claire was a "talented athlete who led her high school to many championships' and someone who had "close friends and a bright spirit".
Brian Lee, head coach of women's soccer at the University, said Claire "will forever be in our hearts".
The University said counselling services were being made available to students following on from Claire's death.
LADbible Group has contacted OpenAI and the Houston Police Department for comment.
If you’ve been affected by any of these issues and want to speak to someone in confidence, please don’t suffer alone. Call Samaritans for free on their anonymous 24-hour phone line on 116 123.
Josh Lawless