There is a term that lines up with this called the Eliza Effect. And yea, it can definitely be an easy trap to fall into. Some people here are making suggestions he is mentally ill, he very well could be, but I dont think there is enough 'evidence' to show his claims are because of mental illness. Just as you mentioned, getting stuck talking to the thing and all it takes it to forget the implementation details. He did have an education in Computer Science, so I am pretty sure he is probably aware of the details, but yea, just getting sucked into the conversation can probably even cause someone who knows better to forget that part. Now as you said, what about when better chatbots become more common place. It is gonna be a mess since most people won't understand how these are implemented anyways.