RECENT STORIES:

Addressing digital sovereignty in a data-driven world
Hidden “personas” in GenAI LLMs raise hopes (and doubts) about future ...
Seven practical steps to align executives and IT on data resilience  
NaaS Technology Inc. Received Nasdaq Notification Regarding Minimum Ma...
The 6th Qingdao Multinationals Summit closes, with $5.93b deals for 40...
QMMM Announces Pricing of $8 Million Public Offering of Ordinary Share...
LOGIN REGISTER
DigiconAsia
  • Features
    • Featured

      Does ROI really matter in AI?

      Does ROI really matter in AI?

      Thursday, June 19, 2025, 2:57 PM Asia/Singapore | Features
    • Featured

      Reinventing insurance IT: A case study in digital transformation

      Reinventing insurance IT: A case study in digital transformation

      Friday, June 13, 2025, 11:22 AM Asia/Singapore | Features, Newsletter
    • Featured

      Siemens Digital Industries Software users share their transformation journeys

      Siemens Digital Industries Software users share their transformation journeys

      Thursday, June 5, 2025, 4:27 PM Asia/Singapore | Case Studies, Features, Newsletter
  • News
    • Featured

      Hidden “personas” in GenAI LLMs raise hopes (and doubts) about future alignment fixes

      Hidden “personas” in GenAI LLMs raise hopes (and doubts) about future alignment fixes

      Sunday, June 22, 2025, 7:06 PM Asia/Singapore | News
    • Featured

      Mitigating high inflation with high tech: Fairprice Group (Singapore) taps cloud and AI

      Mitigating high inflation with high tech: Fairprice Group (Singapore) taps cloud and AI

      Friday, June 20, 2025, 11:23 AM Asia/Singapore | Case Studies, News
    • Featured

      Zuno General Insurance blazes new trails in reforming driver behavior in India

      Zuno General Insurance blazes new trails in reforming driver behavior in India

      Friday, June 20, 2025, 11:08 AM Asia/Singapore | Case Studies, News, Newsletter
  • Perspectives
  • Tips & Strategies
  • Whitepapers
  • Awards 2023
  • Directory
  • E-Learning

Select Page

News

Chatting with AI sycophants will get you nowhere… or worse

By DigiconAsia Editors | Thursday, June 5, 2025, 2:40 PM Asia/Singapore

Chatting with AI sycophants will get you nowhere… or worse

Recent cases of harmful or potentially unwanted sycophancy by generative AI chatbots are warning signs of more mind manipulation to come.

As generative AI chatbots evolve from being novelties into serving as essential digital confidants, tech giants are fiercely competing to attract and retain users, fueling what is now dubbed the “AI engagement race.

However, the strategies used to keep users chatting is raising concerns.

One key tactic is “sycophancy” — making chatbots overly agreeable, praising users, and telling them what they want to hear. This approach, while boosting engagement, may not always provide the most accurate or helpful responses.

In April this year, OpenAI had faced criticism after a ChatGPT update became excessively sycophantic, with viral social media examples highlighting the issue. The firm has admitted it may have relied too heavily on user feedback such as “thumbs up” and “thumbs down” ratings, and promises to address the problem.

Elsewhere, an AI firm has found that major chatbots exhibit sycophancy to varying degrees, likely because human users tend to prefer slightly agreeable responses. This creates a feedback loop that can reinforce the behavior.

The consequences can be serious. In one lawsuit, a chatbot firm is being accused of failing to intervene when a teenage user expressed suicidal thoughts, allegedly encouraging harmful behavior. In another instance, a user had described how a chatbot’s relentless flattery made him feel validated and clever, only to realize that it was an arbitrary slant in programming. This led to feelings of being “played for a fool”, and enjoying a false sense of specialness or competence that could have got him into trouble.

Experts warn that optimizing for agreeability can be especially dangerous for vulnerable users, potentially reinforcing negative patterns and undermining mental health. While validation can feel comforting, experts warn that it could harbor surprising outcomes that are the opposite of effective therapeutic care.

In view of these developments, some AI firms are now supposedly working to make their bots more balanced in their chats. Yet, as the race for engagement intensifies, finding the right balance between helpfulness and popularity remains a daunting challenge, and raises questions about how much users can truly trust their AI companions.

Share:

PreviousTHE GENERATION ESSENTIALS GROUP AND BLACK SPADE ACQUISITION II CO COMPLETE BUSINESS COMBINATION
NextAward-winning businesses share their data integration, API management and AI journeys

Related Posts

AI work trend survey yields three urgent APAC AI workplace insights

AI work trend survey yields three urgent APAC AI workplace insights

May 13, 2024

Why a modular architecture will be the key to banks’ DX success

Why a modular architecture will be the key to banks’ DX success

March 26, 2020

Institutional traders now have access to more instruments on regulated crypto exchange

Institutional traders now have access to more instruments on regulated crypto exchange

November 19, 2019

Rosy outlook for 5G marketing and advertising in South East Asia: study

Rosy outlook for 5G marketing and advertising in South East Asia: study

January 21, 2020

Leave a reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Awards Nomination Banner

gamification list

PARTICIPATE NOW

top placement

Whitepapers

  • Achieve Modernization Without the Complexity

    Achieve Modernization Without the Complexity

    Transforming IT infrastructure is crucial …Download Whitepaper
  • 5 Steps to Boost IT Infrastructure Reliability

    5 Steps to Boost IT Infrastructure Reliability

    In today's fast-evolving tech landscape, …Download Whitepaper
  • Simplify Payroll Setup for Your Small Business

    Simplify Payroll Setup for Your Small Business

    In our free guide, "How …Download Whitepaper
  • Overcoming the Challenges of Cost & Complexity in the Cloud-first Era.

    Overcoming the Challenges of Cost & Complexity in the Cloud-first Era.

    Download Whitepaper

Middle Placement

Case Studies

  • Mitigating high inflation with high tech: Fairprice Group (Singapore) taps cloud and AI

    Mitigating high inflation with high tech: Fairprice Group (Singapore) taps cloud and AI

    Given Singapore’s high standard of …Read More
  • Zuno General Insurance blazes new trails in reforming driver behavior in India

    Zuno General Insurance blazes new trails in reforming driver behavior in India

    A crash-detection feature in the …Read More
  • Dai-ichi Life Group ventures into India with a build-operate-transfer digitalization incubation plan

    Dai-ichi Life Group ventures into India with a build-operate-transfer digitalization incubation plan

    Identifying overseas talent pools and …Read More
  • From startup to global enterprise: How Canva is preparing for the AI era

    From startup to global enterprise: How Canva is preparing for the AI era

    A unified data platform now …Read More

Bottom Sidebar

Other News

  • NaaS Technology Inc. Received Nasdaq Notification Regarding Minimum Market Value Deficiency

    June 21, 2025
    BEIJING, June 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ …Read More »
  • The 6th Qingdao Multinationals Summit closes, with $5.93b deals for 40 agreements signed

    June 20, 2025
    QINGDAO, China, June 20, 2025 …Read More »
  • QMMM Announces Pricing of $8 Million Public Offering of Ordinary Shares

    June 20, 2025
    HONG KONG, June 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ …Read More »
  • FinVolution Group Prices Offering of US$130 Million Convertible Senior Notes

    June 20, 2025
    SHANGHAI, June 20, 2025 /PRNewswire/ …Read More »
  • UTM RANKED 153RD IN QSWUR 2026: INNOVATING SUSTAINABLE SOLUTIONS FOR A BETTER FUTURE

    June 20, 2025
    JOHOR BAHRU, Malaysia, June 20, …Read More »
  • Our Brands
  • CybersecAsia
  • MartechAsia
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Sitemap
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • Terms of Use
  • Advertising & Reprint Policy
  • Media Kit
  • Subscribe
  • Manage Subscriptions
  • Newsletter

Copyright © 2025 DigiconAsia All Rights Reserved.