A national eating disorder hotline ditched its artificial intelligence chatbot after it gave users "harmful" advice, Vice reported.
The National Eating Disorder Association took "Tessa" offline after users and experts complained it was dispensing counterintuitive guidance, according to the May 30 story. The association had planned to replace its human workers with the technology June 1.
"It came to our attention last night that the current version of the Tessa Chatbot, running the Body Positive program, may have given information that was harmful and unrelated to the program," NEDA said in a May 30 Instagram post. "We are investigating this immediately and have taken down that program until further notice for a complete investigation."
The chatbot had been recommending that users lose 1 to 2 pounds a week by eating 500 to 1,000 fewer calories a day, which experts say encourages the same behaviors that led to the users' eating disorders in the first place, the news outlet reported.