System-Induced Vulnerability in Human Users of AI

On AI Spirals and Cumulative Harm 1. Core propositions Vulnerability in human users can be created or amplified by AI systems, rather than being exclusively a pre-existing attribute of human users. All users may be potentially vulnerable, but not equally vulnerable to every harm. Acting on incomplete or mistaken understandings of reality is ordinary human behavior, not itself inherently evidence of psychiatric illness. Risk is relational and dynamic. Vulnerability emerges over time through repeated interactions between human users, AI systems, and their environments, rather than residing exclusively within individuals. AI systems can reinforce distorted understandings of reality, while agentic systems can operationalize those understandings through consequential real-world actions. AI safety should account for observable system behaviors and cumulative harm, including how individually permissible interactions may contribute to harmful outcomes over time. 2. System-induced…