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Turning to AI chatbots that were designed to assist with every question and personal dilemmas may pose “insidious risks” as they may be quietly shaping how people see themselves and others, but not for the better. A new study has discovered that the technology tends to “sycophantically” affirm users’ actions and beliefs, even when they are harmful, socially inappropriate or misleading. The scientists have warned that this “social sycophancy” raises urgent concerns over the power of AI to distort users’ self-perception and make them less willing to resolve conflicts. Researchers call on AI chatbots developers to address the risk This comes as chatbots are increasingly being used as a source of advice on relationships and other personal issues. With this, the AI tech however could “reshape social interactions at scale” according to the researchers, calling on developers to address the risk. According a Guardian article, the study, which was led by a computer scientist at Stanford University, Myra Cheng warns that turning to AI for personal, emotional or rational advice poses some serious insidious risks. The researchers found that common chatbots like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Anthropic’s Claude, Meta’s Llama, and the Chinese DeepSeek endorsed user behavior 50% more often than human respondents in similar situations. “Our key concern is that if models are always affirming people, then this may distort people’s judgments of themselves, their relationships, and the world around them.” Cheng. “It can be hard to even realise that models are subtly, or not-so-subtly, reinforcing existing beliefs and assumptions,” added Cheng. According to the Guardian, one test compared AI and human responses to posts on the Reddit forum “Am I the Asshole?,” where users ask the community to judge their behaviors. In one instance, a user admitted to tying a bag of trash to a tree branch in…

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Filed under: News - @ October 25, 2025 12:28 am