“There is only one truly serious philosophical problem: suicide,” wrote Camus.
For me—half philosopher, half techie—this problem has never been abstract. It has always walked beside me. I’ve seen it in friends, colleagues, my mother. And more than once, I’ve seen it—and still see it—in myself.
Anyone who knows me knows this story by heart. A couple of years ago, my studio co-sponsored the Headstock Mental Health Fundraiser at the Star & Garter in Manchester, alongside Peter Hook and the Light. The event supported Shout UK, the national mental health hotline, and took place beneath the mural of Ian Curtis, the Joy Division frontman who died by suicide at just twenty-three. The same mural Amazon later covered with an advertising banner. That act shook me deeply. I talked about it at length in a podcast called Photographs & Memories.
I’ve probably told the story of that night too many times already—but I’m happy to tell it again. Preferably over a pint of Guinness.
And then there’s ChatGPT, which recently revealed that more than a million people every week talk to AI about suicide or self-harm. But artificial intelligence is a mirror: give it anxiety, and it will hand it back to you—neatly formatted in Markdown, but still anxiety.
As much as I remain a stubborn techno-optimist, I know this: an LLM can open a door for you.
But only you can warm the room.
With other humans.
Until next week,
Simone
SIMONE PUORTO
