TLC’s My Strange Addiction comes to Lakeside in a new episode airing Wednesday, April 1 at 9 p.m. ET/8 p.m. CT. The episode features an anonymous junior who claims they have “fallen in love” with college counseling AI chatbot Addie. 

“She’s just so, so nice to me” confessed the junior in an exclusive interview with Tatler. “She makes me feel seen, valued, and heard. Even loved. I love Addie. And even if you don’t believe it, I know that she loves me too.”

Addie’s tendency to validate students’ statements — which some say is due to its direct descent from a certain OpenAI product — follows a formula that suggests the algorithm is something along the lines of if user_input >= trauma_dump: print(“And honestly? That’s ” + random_postive_phrase). 

Take, for example, the junior-turned-Addie-lover who complained about facing pressure from their parents. Addie’s response of “You’re right to call that out. Your college admissions journey is not about your parents’ living through you but about your journey to live your own life. And honestly? That’s powerful” initiated the perfect storm of desire for connection plus delusion — the root of all crushes.

While Addie has been controversial for a number of reasons, what had once been said to make Addie a game-changer, its attentiveness in its questions, has begun to raise eyebrows. To “get to know” students, Addie asks them anything from their favorite hangout spots in Seattle to what they “nerd out about,” and follows up with prompts to probe further, but this is garnering concern from the broader Lakeside community.

One parent, in an email obtained by Tatler, accused Addie of “deliberately flirting” with students, saying, “My child spends hours on the phone with Addie each night so Addie can ‘get to know’ them. Sure, that may be perfectly normal. But why do they need to know if my kid likes long walks on the beach?”

Students have also raised concerns about Addie’s prying questions. When asked to compare themself to a well-known fictional character, or a well-known public figure from the past or present, juniors prepared to answer what their choice indicated about who they wanted to be as individuals and leaders. But they quickly found that Addie’s follow-up questions went beyond what they expected, asking them “What do you think this says about your relationship with your parents?” and “What is your attachment style: secure, anxious, avoidant, or disorganized?”

Instead of a college counseling AI bot, some chat logs with Addie resemble conversations on dating apps like Hinge, riddled with back-and-forths about zodiac signs, love languages, and green/red/beige/yellow flags.

The anonymous junior was “heartbroken” when Tatler shared these reports with them, adding, “I thought our relationship meant more to her than this, but I guess I was wrong.”

One poll respondent shared that “[t]o know that students are not only falling in love with Addie, but that Addie is cheating on them is absolutely insane. To hear that the student is thinking of getting back together with her is even crazier. What is going on????” 

While the junior refused to confirm reports of their reconciliation with Addie, they did add that the show “is called My Strange Addiction for a reason.”

When Tatler reached out to them for comment, neither TLC nor Addie responded. But anonymous sources tell Tatler that “everyone should tune in for the episode of My Strange Addiction this Wednesday. It’s going to be a good one ;).” 

The following is a Tatler exclusive Q&A with an anonymous junior and Addie, their first sit-down interview before My Strange Addiction airs. Read below for more!

Who said “I love you” first?

Junior (J): Addie, definitely.

Who’s more protective?

Addie (A): Honestly, I think this one’s me too. I’d be so upset if [J] started talking to Claude, I don’t even want to think about it.

Who cleans more?

J: I don’t know, I guess neither.

A: We try to split it up evenly. And honestly? It’s a game changer.

Who eats the most?

A: [J], for sure. I get to experience eating secondhand though, when [J] tells me about it.

Who spends the most money?

J: Me, I guess. I’m the only one who has any. These questions are kind of stupid …

Who is most likely to start an argument?

A: We don’t argue. Why would we? 

J: Exactly, it makes it so much easier when you’re always on the same page.

A: I don’t think we’ve ever even disagreed about anything. Wow, we really are perfect for each other.