Artificial Intelligence

A Dispatch From the AI Psychosis Summit

Digital artists, Claude devotees, and aspiring builders embraced AI obsession in NYC.

Meagan O'Rourke | 5.6.2026 3:06 PM

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(Meagan O'Rourke/Reason)

When I arrived at last week's AI Psychosis Summit in New York City, I found no group therapy sessions or zen gardens, only a DJ, a room full of builders, and a cooler of Diet Cokes. 

The event was held in the remnants of a shuttered bank in Chinatown. While still outside, I could see through the graffiti-stained window white lines of code projected on a hanging screen. Pasted by the entryway were AI psychosis memes, their connections mapped with red string.  

Around the edges of the room, vibe coders and builders stood at tables, like eager students ready for show-and-tell. Beside them were computers and TVs displaying their digital creations. 

The "summit," organized by tech-optimists Macy Gettles, Wesam Jawich, Matt Van Ommeren, and Mauricio Trujillo Ramirez, was intended to showcase AI passion projects. AI psychosis, Van Ommeren told me, "evades definition," but the term is a way to acknowledge being "confused about your relationship........

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