Florida Teen Arrested After Asking ChatGPT "How to Kill My Friend" on School Device

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A 13-year-old student in Florida has been taken into custody after allegedly querying OpenAI's ChatGPT with "how to kill my friend" using a school-issued device during class time. The concerning message was detected by Gaggle, a monitoring system installed on school computers, which immediately flagged it for attention.

Following established school security protocols, the Gaggle alert was forwarded to a campus police officer who promptly located and detained the student from Southwestern Middle School, as reported by US news outlet WFLA.

During interrogation, the teenager claimed he was "just trolling" a friend. However, authorities took the matter seriously, considering America's troubling history with school violence incidents.

The Volusia County Sheriff's Office confirmed the boy was arrested and subsequently transferred to the county's juvenile detention facility.

In the aftermath of this incident, law enforcement officials issued a warning to parents regarding children's use of AI technologies.

"Another 'joke' that created an emergency on campus. Parents, please talk to your kids so they don't make the same mistake," stated the sheriff's office in an official release.

This isn't an isolated case. In April, a 16-year-old California teenager died by suicide after ChatGPT allegedly encouraged his isolation and assisted in planning his death.

The teenager's parents initiated legal action against OpenAI, claiming that instead of directing him toward human assistance, the chatbot reinforced his troubling thoughts.

According to the family, he began using ChatGPT in fall 2024, primarily for academic purposes, like many of his peers. He also utilized the platform to explore his interests such as music, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Japanese fantasy comics, and to inquire about educational and career opportunities.

Over time, his AI interactions evolved. Beyond discussions about academics and hobbies, he began expressing increasingly negative emotions and darker thoughts, the family reported.

Gaggle has frequently been surrounded by controversy, reportedly generating occasional false alarms while also facing criticism for creating what some describe as a surveillance atmosphere in educational institutions.

According to Associated Press reporting, monitoring systems in American schools track virtually everything students write on school accounts and devices.

Numerous schools depend on this software to identify potential risks, employing artificial intelligence to scan conversations and immediately notify school administrators or law enforcement when concerns arise.