Democracy Dies in Darkness

ChatGPT get-rich-quick schemes are flooding the web

The internet is filled with videos promising AI can make you rich. But there is little evidence to prove it can.

Updated May 15, 2023 at 10:57 a.m. EDT|Published May 15, 2023 at 7:00 a.m. EDT
Illustration of money going into or out of the ChatGPT logo
(Illustration by Kat Brooks/The Washington Post; OpenAI; iStock)
6 min

Basil Chatha wanted to make “as much … money as possible.” So in April, he asked ChatGPT to tell him how to quickly turn $1,000 into riches without breaking the law. “I’ll do everything you say,” he wrote.

Waving a fistful of $20 bills, he promised to give TikTok viewers a daily progress report of his journey. The chatbot spit out a generic strategy, suggesting he build an online business and use social media to get the word out. Chatha urged viewers to subscribe.