Immediately, the AI labels you a conspiracy theorist just for asking, and assures you that Lyme disease is a natural infection spread by the deer tick to humans. The ticks are infected with the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi which causes the disease.

The chat goes on to say that the disease was discovered in the 1970s by physician Allen Steere after a cluster of cases was seen in Connecticut (Lyme, Connecticut to be exact). Rest assured, ChatGPT says, scientists found genetic evidence that the Lyme-causing bacteria existed in nature long before the 1970s, probably for thousands of years.

Naturally the ChatGPT must expound upon the conspiracy theory, stating that some people believe the disease might have come from Plum Island experiments. This animal disease center in New York is very close to the Connecticut outbreak area (but I'm sure that is just a coincidence).