South Korea woman, 21, accused of using ChatGPT to plan double murders

A woman in South Korea allegedly used the AI platform ChatGPT to plan the murder of two men, police said.

The 21-year-old woman, surnamed Kim, is accused of killing two men in separate incidents using the same method – mixing drugs with alcohol.

She was arrested on 11 February and was initially charged with the lesser offence of inflicting bodily injury resulting in death. However, the charge was later upgraded to murder after her phone history revealed she was aware of the potential consequences, police said.

The Seoul Gangbuk police said an analysis of her mobile phone showed that she had repeatedly asked ChatGPT: “What happens if you take sleeping pills with alcohol?”

She also wrote: “How many do you need to take for it to be dangerous?” and “Could it kill someone?”

“Kim repeatedly asked questions related to drugs on ChatGPT. She was fully aware that consuming alcohol together with drugs could result in death,” a police investigator said.

Ms Kim previously admitted to mixing prescribed sedatives containing benzodiazepines into the men’s drinks but insisted she did not know it could cause death, police said.

They said the first killing took place on 28 January, when she went to a motel in Suyu-dong in Gangbuk-gu district in Seoul with a man in his 20s. She left the motel alone after two hours. The man’s body was discovered in the room the following day.

On 9 February, she allegedly killed another man in his 20s after checking into a different motel in Gangbuk-gu, police said.

Authorities also alleged that she attempted to kill her then partner in December last year by giving him a drink mixed with sedatives in a car park in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province. The man lost consciousness but later recovered.

Police said they are continuing to investigate whether she may be linked to any additional deaths or incidents.

They have also conducted a psychopathy assessment and in-depth interviews to determine her psychological profile.