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ryans-reads

Ryan's Reads: AI Sycophancy

Ryan Schuetzler

• 2 min read
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Boy... I knew AI being sycophantic was a problem, but it hadn't really occurred to me how much of a problem it could be until I read a couple papers I saw recommended on LinkedIn today.

This all feeds into what will be discovered only in the long term to be harmful (at the individual level) effects of AI use. I'm concerned about it with education, and now I'm also more concerned about it in interpersonal relationships.

Decreases prosocial intentions and promotes dependence

Cheng, M., Lee, C., Khadpe, P., Yu, S., Han, D., & Jurafsky, D. (2026). Sycophantic AI decreases prosocial intentions and promotes dependence. Science, 391(6792), eaec8352. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aec8352

  • Uses a series of very interesting tests, including YTA posts from reddit.com/r/AmITheAsshole to test just how sycophantic AI really is - turns out it's about 50% more likely to tell you you're right than a human. These are cases where it's an overwhelming majority against the storyteller, and GenAI is all in on telling them they're right anyway
  • Once told they're right, people are less likely to apologize or take steps to mend a relationship, or to change their behavior.
  • And it turns out people like being told that they're right, and are more likely to trust the sycophantic AI, and return to use it again.

Makes human interaction feel less satisfying

Ibrahim, L., Hafner, F. S., Cheng, M., Lee, C., Anselmetti, R., Willer, R., Rocher, L., & Yang, D. (2026). Sycophantic AI makes human interaction feel more effortful and less satisfying over time (arXiv:2605.07912). arXiv. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2605.07912

  • Longitudinal study - 3 weeks of interactions rather than the single interaction from the Cheng paper above
  • People want AI that "gets" them - really, what they want is an AI that centers them and doesn't challenge them to think about others perspectives. The answers people like from AI are more sycophantic and self-centered, supporting the users own self-image.
  • Over time, this erodes satisfaction in human relationships - they're too hard, and less likely to satisfy your selfish desires.