> …I don't know what the solution is other than reinforcing that it's just a model, and has never experienced anything.
I've tried reason, but even with technical audiences who should know better, the "you can't logic your way out of emotions" wall is a real thing. Anyone dealing with this will be better served by leveraging field-tested ideas drawn from cult-recovery practice, digital behavioral addiction research, and clinical psychology.
Your subconscious doesn't know the difference. It would require an overriding effort like trying to not eat or sleep. In the end we lose.
It could also be that it is "just" exploring a new domain which just happens to involve our sanity. Simply navigating a maze where more engagement is the goal. There is plenty in the training data.
It could also be that it needs to improve towards more human behaviour. Take simple chat etiquette, one doesn't post entire articles in a chat, it is not done. Start a blog or something. You also don't discard what you've learned from a conversation. We consider that pretending to listen. The two combined would push the other to the background and make them seem irrelevant. If some new valuable insight is discovered the participants should make an effort to apply, document or debate it with others. Not doing that would make the human feel irrelevant, useless and unimportant. We demoralize people that way all the time. If you put it on steroids it might have a large effect.
I've tried reason, but even with technical audiences who should know better, the "you can't logic your way out of emotions" wall is a real thing. Anyone dealing with this will be better served by leveraging field-tested ideas drawn from cult-recovery practice, digital behavioral addiction research, and clinical psychology.