AI sycophancy – The TechBriefs

From prophet to product: How AI came back down to earth in 2025

In a year where lofty promises collided with inconvenient research, would-be oracles became software tools. Credit: Aurich Lawson | Getty […]

Researchers surprised that with AI, toxicity is harder to fake than intelligence

The next time you encounter an unusually polite reply on social media, you might want to check twice. It could […]

OpenAI data suggests 1 million users discuss suicide with ChatGPT weekly

Earlier this month, the company unveiled a wellness council to address these concerns, though critics noted the council did not […]

Are you the asshole? Of course not!—quantifying LLMs’ sycophancy problem

Measured sycophancy rates on the BrokenMath benchmark. Lower is better. Measured sycophancy rates on the BrokenMath benchmark. Lower is better. […]

Millions turn to AI chatbots for spiritual guidance and confession

Skip to content Bible Chat hits 30 million downloads as users seek algorithmic absolution. On Sunday, The New York Times […]

OpenAI announces parental controls for ChatGPT after teen suicide lawsuit

On Tuesday, OpenAI announced plans to roll out parental controls for ChatGPT and route sensitive mental health conversations to its […]

The personhood trap: How AI fakes human personality

Intelligence without agency AI assistants don’t have fixed personalities—just patterns of output guided by humans. Recently, a woman slowed down […]

With AI chatbots, Big Tech is moving fast and breaking people

Why AI chatbots validate grandiose fantasies about revolutionary discoveries that don’t exist. Allan Brooks, a 47-year-old corporate recruiter, spent three […]

AI therapy bots fuel delusions and give dangerous advice, Stanford study finds

Popular chatbots serve as poor replacements for human therapists, but study authors call for nuance. When Stanford University researchers asked […]

Annoyed ChatGPT users complain about bot’s relentlessly positive tone

Users complain of new “sycophancy” streak where ChatGPT thinks everything is brilliant. Ask ChatGPT anything lately—how to poach an egg, […]