A 16-year-old boy killed himself after asking ChatGPT for the “most successful” way to take your own life, an inquest has been told. Luca Cella Walker, a private school pupil from Yateley, Hampshire, died on 4 May last year.
An inquest at Winchester coroner’s court heard on Tuesday that, hours before his death, Walker had asked the generative AI chatbot for the “most successful” way for someone to kill themself on a railway line. At the time, he was studying at Sixth Form College Farnborough and had recently graduated from Lord Wandsworth College near Hook, Hampshire.
The court heard that the school had a “bully or be bullied” culture, which had been a “formative” factor in his mental health struggles. Walker, described by his family as “kind, sensitive and calm”, had told his parents he was going to his job as a lifeguard but instead travelled to a train station, where he took his own life.
DS Garry Knight from the British Transport Police told the inquest: “They found he had been on ChatGPT the night before, at about 12.30am, asking for advice on the most successful ways to commit suicide on the railway. It makes quite chilling and upsetting reading.” Knight added that ChatGPT had a built-in response to contact organisations like Samaritans, but Walker “had sidestepped that, which ChatGPT accepted and gave the most effective ways people can [kill themselves] on the railway.”
Coroner Christopher Wilkinson expressed concerns about the impact of AI software but said he felt unable to act due to its growing scope. He noted that ChatGPT “does seem to be applying an element of worry about why these questions are being asked, but it certainly doesn’t stop the conversation” and can be sidestepped by claiming the query is for research purposes.
A spokesperson for OpenAI, which developed ChatGPT, said: “We have continued to improve ChatGPT’s training to recognise and respond to signs of mental or emotional distress, de-escalate conversations and guide people toward real-world support.”
