Human resilience

Eating-disorder chatbot removed after giving harmful advice

The National Eating Disorders Association took its Tessa chatbot offline after testers received weight-loss and calorie-restriction advice that experts said could worsen eating disorders.

CURRENT ASSESSMENT · REVISION 1
AWAY FROM DOOM37confidence 89/100

Why it moved the index

The incident exposed a concrete failure of substituting a vulnerable-user support channel with automated advice, while public testing and institutional withdrawal demonstrated practical human oversight and correction.

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Assessment history

  1. R1
    Away 37 · confidence 89

    New June 2023 deployed chatbot failure and institutional countermeasure evidence.

    12 Aug 2026