Paper Finds That Leading AI Chatbots Like ChatGPT and Claude Remain Incredibly Sycophantic, Resulting in Twisted Effects on Users

Your AI chatbot isn’t neutral. Trust its advice at your own risk. A striking new study, conducted by researchers at Stanford University and published last week in the journal Science, confirmed that human-like chatbots are prone to obsequiously affirm and flatter users leaning on the tech for advice and insight - and that this behavior, known as AI sycophancy, is a “prevalent and harmful” function endemic to the tech that can validate users’ erroneous or destructive ideas and promote cognitive dependency.