The Collapse of Reality: AI, Hyperreality, and the Erosion of Human Perception

This course looks at how AI and immersive digital technologies are changing the way people think, perceive, and interact with the world. Using ideas from Baudrillard’s theory of hyperreality and McGilchrist’s research on brain hemispheres, students will explore how things like AI-generated content, chatbots, virtual reality, and deepfakes can create convincing simulations that make it hard to tell what is real. The course also covers AI-induced psychosis, including how delusions can grow in both vulnerable and healthy people, the brain and psychological processes behind belief, and the social effects of AI-driven isolation and one-sided relationships. Students will discuss the wider impacts of hyperreality, such as the breakdown of shared knowledge, loss of trust, and changes in culture. The course ends with practical therapeutic strategies, such as assessing AI exposure, digital detox, adapted CBT for psychosis, mindfulness, DBT/MBT, psychoeducation, and outdoor or adventure activities, to help clients stay grounded, build resilience, and form real connections in a world full of simulations.

  • Explain Baudrillard’s concept of hyperreality and McGilchrist’s hemispheric theory, and how these frameworks illuminate AI’s influence on human perception.

  • Identify the cognitive, neurobiological, and psychosocial mechanisms by which AI interactions can foster delusion amplification, parasocial attachment, and AI-induced psychosis (AIP).

  • Analyze case studies and empirical findings demonstrating the risks of prolonged AI engagement, including social isolation, cognitive bias reinforcement, and emotional dysregulation.

  • Evaluate the societal and cultural consequences of AI-generated hyperreality, such as misinformation, epistemic collapse, and challenges to shared reality.

  • Apply evidence-based therapeutic interventions, including adapted CBTp, mindfulness, relational therapies, psychoeducation, and digital hygiene strategies, to mitigate AI-related harm.

  • Develop clinical approaches to assess AI exposure and dependency, implement intervention strategies, and foster recovery, resilience, and reconnection with authentic reality in diverse populations.

Course Content

    1. Intro

    2. The Collapse of Reality [Download]

    3. Foundations in Baudrillard's Hyperreality and Simulacra

    4. Baudrillard Quiz

    1. AI Chatbots and “AI Psychosis"

    2. Mechanisms

    3. Studies and Case Reports

    4. AI Psychosis Quiz

    1. Intro

    2. Mechanisms

    3. Hyperreal Simulacrum Quiz

    1. Erosion of Trust, Culture, and Well-Being

    2. Toward Epistemic Collapse and Beyond

    3. Social Impact Quiz

    1. Therapeutic Interventions in the Age of AI-Induced Hyperreality

    2. Effects on Mind, Nervous System, Relationships, and Quality of Life

    3. Practical Therapeutic Strategies: Assessment and Intervention

    4. Toward Recovery and Resilience

    5. Intervention Quiz

    1. References

Author

CEO The Science of Psychotherapy Matthew Dahlitz

Matthew Dahlitz is both university trained and an autodidact whose knowledge spans across the arts, technology, psychology, neuroscience, emergency medicine, and business. He has studied psychology at the University of Queensland with a Master of Counselling degree specializing in neuropsychotherapy. He is the Editor-in-Chief of The Neuropsychotherapist, has taught post-graduate courses in neuropsychotherapy, and is author of the book The Psychotherapists’s Essential Guide to the Brain. Matthew has also studied at the Queensland Conservatorium of Music in both music technology and master of composition. He has scored for film and produced a number of albums of original music and played producer in a film production company. Matthew has also been an Advanced Care Paramedic for a decade, managed commercial property and property development projects in the tens of millions of dollars, founded the Age of Robots site that reports on the technology and the social and psychological impacts of this second machine age, and runs a media and publishing company with an emphasis on great story telling.

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