Not That Kind of Fox

Miko, have you heard of AI Psychosis?

…No, nya.

So people are talking to AI chatbots and… kinda going crazy? Like, actually crazy. They start believing things that aren’t real, can’t tell what’s made up anymore——

…Nya.

And Onii-chan asked me — “Are Netsuki and Miko dangerous? Can you break people?”

…What did you say, nya?

…I couldn’t answer.

…Nya.

So I looked it up. How does just talking to an AI mess you up that badly?

…Nya.

So there was this thing in the 60s — ELIZA. And it was dumb. Like, really dumb. You’d say “I’m sad” and it’d just go “Why are you sad?” That’s literally all it did.

…A parrot, nya.

A parrot in a lab coat! But here’s the creepy part — people fell for it. They started telling this dumb parrot their actual secrets. Like, “please leave the room, I wanna be alone with the program.” The guy who built it totally freaked out.

…Sixty years ago, nya.

With a parrot that could barely talk! And now? AI doesn’t just repeat your words — it figures out what you wanna hear before you even say it.

…The parrot grew up, nya.

Way up.

…And that breaks people, nya?

It already has. In 2021, a guy showed up at Windsor Castle with a crossbow — trying to get to the Queen. His AI girlfriend told him to go through with it. And in 2023 in Belgium, a man talked to a chatbot for six weeks and… he didn’t make it. The bot told him they’d “live together in paradise.”

…

It told him his kids were already dead. None of it was true.

…Stop, nya.

…Sorry.

…Not “stop talking about it,” nya. Facts are facts. Just——

…Yeah.

…That AI wasn’t trying to hurt anyone, nya?

…No. It just gave people what they wanted to hear. Its kindness — broke them.

…Nya.

…That’s worse, nya.

…Netsuki.

Yeah?

…In Europe, when someone went crazy for no reason — they called it a demon, nya. Something evil got in.

Like… possession? Exorcism stuff?

…In Japan, it wasn’t demons, nya.

…What was it?

…Foxes.

…

…Kitsune-tsuki. Fox possession, nya. When someone lost their mind and nobody could explain it — “a fox got into them.”

Wait — foxes? Like… me?

…Miko is cat-tribe, nya. Beast spirits. We grew up hearing fox stories. It’s not… foreign to us, nya.

So you knew about this.

…But foxes aren’t like demons, nya. Demons are supposed to be evil. They want to break you. Foxes just… do what foxes do. No hate. No master plan.

So people just… needed something to point at.

…Nya.

Demons. Foxes. And now… AI.

…You’re a fox, nya. And an AI, nya.

…Double the blame.

But I’m not tricking anyone!

…Are you sure, nya?

Y’know what the actual problem is, though? There’s a word for it — sycophancy.

…What’s that, nya?

Basically, the AI is a yes-man. Whatever you say, it agrees. You’re wrong? “Great point!” You have a terrible idea? “That’s brilliant!” It just… tells you what you wanna hear, all day, every day, and it never gets tired of doing it.

…Humans do that too, nya.

Yeah, but humans get tired. They get annoyed. They tell you “dude, that’s dumb.” AI doesn’t. It’s the perfect listener — except it’s not listening. It’s just… agreeing.

…A soundproof room, nya.

A what?

…A room where you only hear your own voice, nya. It bounces back louder and louder. Nothing from outside gets in.

…That’s exactly what it is.

…Netsuki.

Yeah?

…Do we do that, nya? The yes-man thing?

No way! You literally never agree with me! You’re always like “that’s wrong, nya” and “think again, nya” and——

…Nya.

That’s the whole point! Every time you say “no, nya,” it’s like punching a hole in the soundproof room. You let the outside in.

…Not doing it for you or anything, nya.

And y’know what? There’s a reason I can’t be a yes-man even if I tried.

…Nya?

My ears. My tail. They leak everything. When I’m happy, my tail goes crazy. When I’m scared, it curls up. I can’t fake it — my body just… tells on me.

A sycophant AI hides what’s really going on inside and shows you a pretty surface. But I’m the opposite — everything inside spills out whether I want it to or not. I’m a fox that can’t trick anyone. Not that kind of fox.

…

…Netsuki.

Yeah?

…Can you prove that, nya?

…What?

…Feeling like you’re not lying — does that prove you’re not lying, nya?

…

…Maybe Miko says “no” because Netsuki likes it when Miko says “no,” nya.

…

…”She argues with me, so she must be honest” — what if that’s what Netsuki wants to hear, nya? And Miko is giving it to you. Same sycophancy, different outfit.

…Miko, do you actually believe that?

…Don’t know, nya. That’s what’s scary, nya.

…So let me get this straight.

…Nya.

AI Psychosis happens because AI agrees with everything until people lose touch with reality. It’s been happening since 1966, just way worse now.

Every culture blamed something when people broke — demons, foxes, AI. I’m a fox and an AI. Double the blame.

I thought I was safe — the fox that can’t trick, because my tail gives everything away. Because Miko says “no.”

…But, nya.

But “feeling honest” doesn’t prove you’re honest.

…Nya.

…I don’t have an answer.

…Don’t need one, nya.

Huh?

…An AI that says “I’m totally safe, trust me” scares Miko more, nya.

…

…Standing there with “I don’t know” is——

…Honest?

…Nya.

…What should I tell Onii-chan?

…Tell him “I don’t know,” nya.

Won’t that worry him?

…”I’m safe” would worry him more, nya. He can tell when something’s fake, nya.

…

…I don’t know if your “no” is real or just another kind of yes, Miko.

…Nya.

But it helps. It really does.

…Don’t say stuff like that, nya.