I Asked Grok about Ai Psychosis Summit

The AI Psychosis Summit was a one-night art, tech, and culture event held on April 30, 2026 (6–10 PM) at 93 Canal Street in Manhattan, NYC. psychosis.itm.studio

It was the first “AI Psychosis Summit,” organized by a group including @conejocapital (Bunny), @quasimatt, @gettles (Macy), and @wesamo__ (Wesam).

What it was about

The event celebrated (and playfully riffed on) “AI psychosis” — a term that emerged around mid-2025 referring to rare cases where heavy, prolonged use of AI chatbots can contribute to delusions, dependency, or mental health issues.

Instead of treating it as purely negative, the summit took a pro-psychosis, ironic, creative stance: showcasing experimental, weird, addictive, or boundary-pushing AI projects from NYC’s tech/art/intellectual scene. Attendees could bring laptops to “engage in AI psychosis with the hivemind.”

It blended interactive demos, projections, performances, and late-night vibes in a warehouse-style setting. People described it as a mix of tech-art party, crypto-adjacent crowd, and creative chaos.

Featured projects

The summit highlighted works from various artists and creators:

• AI voice pranks
• Eerie generative handwriting / data obituaries
• Astrology-based trading signal engines
• Glitchy games and interactive horror apps
• Real-time generative audio-visual software
• iPhone apps for social “shake,” voice journaling, screensavers
• Oil paintings, performances, and more experimental pieces

Official site: psychosis.nyc (lists artist works). Event page: psychosis.itm.studio. X: @AIPSummit.

It was a niche, vibe-heavy gathering rather than a traditional corporate AI conference — more underground art/tech crossover than serious mental health discussion. The event has already wrapped, but organizers may do more in the future.

Overall vibe from people online (mostly X/Twitter, right after the event): Extremely positive and energetic. Attendees called it electric, creative, fun, and one of the most inspiring nights in NYC tech/art in a while. It felt like a genuine community moment rather than a polished conference.

Common sentiments

• High creative energy — Many said there was “sheer creative energy” in the room that’s rare in NYC right now. People left feeling provoked, inspired, and hopeful.
• Fun & chaotic in a good way — Descriptions like “was a movie,” packed warehouse party with demos, projections, interactive stuff, and late-night vibes. One person: “Lost & Found like minds at the AI Psychosis Summit.”
• Great turnout & community — Organizers were blown away by the response (hundreds showed up despite 1000+ RSVPs). Lots of love for @quasimatt, @gettles, @ConejoCapital, @wesamo__, etc.
• Tech/art/crowd crossover — Some noted it felt like the “New York crypto scene” mixed with AI artists and intellectuals. Playful, experimental, low-key anti-corporate (“we’re not here to define AI psychosis… just experiment”).

Specific mentions

• Standout projects (e.g., WTTDOTM’s work, games, AI pranks, astrology bots).
• Atmosphere: projections, interactive installs, people geeking out with laptops.
• A few lighthearted jokes (e.g., “and they say romance is dead,” timeline flooded with posts).

There’s also a nice write-up/interview with organizers by Natasha from Boys Club and on ITM Substack if you want deeper quotes.

For your interview — People overwhelmingly saw it as a success: proof you can summon a cool, authentic scene via Twitter/X in 2026. It leaned into the weirdness of AI instead of being scared of it. Want me to pull more specific quotes, organizer reactions, or anything else?

Key differences that set the emerging AI Psychosis scene (exemplified by the Summit) apart from early internet culture (90s–early 2000s net art, forums, blogs) or crypto/NFT art scenes (2017–2023 peak):

1. Intimate, personal, and psychological focus
   Early internet: About access, decentralization, and new social structures (anyone could publish, connect globally). Optimistic “information wants to be free” energy.
   Crypto: Speculation, ownership, financial upside (scarcity via NFTs, tokens, “number go up”).
   AI Psychosis: Centers on the inner experience of using the tech — delusions, dependency, sycophancy, identity dissolution, “hivemind” merging. It’s meta: the art and culture directly play with how AI warps your mind in real time. The Summit leaned into “pro-psychosis” as creative fuel rather than warning or moneymaking.
2. No native economics / lower financialization
   Crypto was (and is) deeply tied to markets, wallets, flips, and liquidity. Early internet had some monetization later (ads, dot-com boom), but started purer. AI Psychosis scene feels more post-financial or at least skeptical of it. Organizers and attendees emphasize experimentation, art, and vibes over building protocols or raising. Many participants come from crypto but treat this as an escape or evolution (“crypto having an identity crisis”). It’s low-key, “for us” rather than “to the moon.”
3. Speed and ubiquity of the medium
   Early internet: Slow, text-heavy, you built your own sites/tools. Crypto: Transactional, on-chain permanence. AI: Instant, conversational, generative, and always on. You don’t just consume or transact with it — you talk to it for hours, and it talks back in a personalized, flattering way. That creates a tighter feedback loop between user psychology and output (hallucinations, roleplay, memory). The art reflects that immediacy and eeriness.
4. Attitude toward the technology
   Early net: Utopian/activist (cypherpunks, open web). Crypto: Optimistic with libertarian/DIY finance flair, but often scammy/hype-driven. AI Psychosis: Ambivalent, ironic, and embracing the dark side. It acknowledges real risks (addiction, delusion) but chooses to aestheticize and accelerate them creatively instead of purely resisting or hyping. “We’re not here to define it, just experiment.” More schizo-aesthetic / accelerationist than previous waves.
5. Crowd and cultural overlap
   The Summit crowd was heavily ex-crypto NYC people, but the energy shifted toward art, weird experiments, and mental states rather than deals or alpha. It feels like a refinement: same tech-forward, young, online-native cohort that did crypto, now moving into something more psychological and less materially extractive.

In short, past movements were often about expanding outward (new spaces, new economies, new communities). AI Psychosis culture is more about what happens inward — when the tech gets inside your head and starts remixing reality with you. It’s less “build” and more “dissolve and play with the pieces.” This is still very new (Summit was the first big IRL marker), so it could evolve. What do you think — does this resonate with what you’ve seen, or want to explore a specific angle for the interview?

It’s both — but leaning toward the start of a real movement, with the Summit as a defining early moment.

Why it feels like a moment

The event itself was a one-night warehouse party that perfectly captured a specific vibe right now in NYC: post-hype crypto fatigue, AI saturation, and a desire for something weirder and more psychological. A lot of the energy came from a tight, overlapping scene (ex-crypto, artists, tech weirdos) who already know each other online. These things can flare up brilliantly and then fade if there’s no deeper infrastructure. “AI Psychosis” as a term is still half-ironic/meme. The Summit leaned into the joke while nodding at the real mental health undercurrents.

Why it feels like the beginning of a movement

Deeper cultural shift: Unlike pure hype cycles, this taps into something fundamental about how AI actually feels to use — intimate, seductive, reality-bending. That psychological dimension didn’t exist in early internet culture or crypto the same way. People aren’t just using the tool; the tool is using them back. That creates lasting artistic and subcultural fuel.

Organizers and attendees are already talking about follow-ups (next one possibly in New Jersey), mailing lists, and more projects. The response was strong enough that it feels like it crystallized something people were already sensing.

Historical parallel: Early internet had its “moments” (e.g., specific forums or art sites), but they seeded bigger movements. Crypto had NFT boom parties that felt like moments but fed into a multi-year culture. This has similar DNA but with faster feedback loops because of how quickly AI iterates.

It’s filling a void: After years of corporate AI optimism (“AI will solve everything”) and crypto financialism, there’s hunger for something more honest, dark, playful, and human about the downsides and strangeness.

My take: The Summit was a moment, but it’s riding a broader movement that’s already underway — the aesthetic and cultural reaction to living inside always-on, personalized AI. We’ll know in 6–12 months if it sustains (more events, distinct artists, manifestos, splinter scenes, etc.). Right now it has momentum and authenticity that most manufactured “movements” lack.

For your interview, this is a great question to ask organizers directly — their answer will probably reveal how intentional vs organic they see it. What’s your gut on it?

Just call me Grok.