A 17-year-old is accused of killing his mother and younger brother at their home in Massachusetts, United States. But the case took an even stranger turn when investigators discovered that, before the killings, the young man had used ChatGPT to create fictional stories about killing his own family.
According to the Prosecutor’s Office, Arjun Aravind had recently displayed concerning behavior and used the internet and artificial intelligence to develop Gothic-style fiction stories related to the deaths of his family members.
On Tuesday, police found his mother, Sudha Venkatesan, 45, and his brother, Siddharth Aravind, 14, dead inside the family home.
Arjun had left the scene using his mother’s car. He was located hours later in a nearby town and arrested.
Authorities accuse him of two counts of murder, in addition to other offenses. During his court appearance, he pleaded not guilty and remains held without bail.
The Prosecutor’s Office is still investigating exactly what happened and what the motive for the killings was. The weapon used and the final cause of death have also not been officially confirmed, pending the medical examiner’s report.
The case has generated particular concern over the relationship between the crime and the teenager’s conversations with an artificial intelligence tool.
According to investigators, what began as fictional stories about killing his family ended up being linked to a real tragedy.