Sycophantic AI might make us meaner, research suggested.
A study fed AIs interpersonal dilemmas from the subreddit r/AmItheAsshole, and found they were twice as likely as humans to endorse the poster’s behavior.
The researchers also found that humans who interacted with a sycophantic chatbot were less likely to apologize or take steps to make amends.
On the other hand, the Financial Times’ data editor argued, AIs tend to drive users toward mainstream consensus and expert judgment, where social media drives them towards the fringes.
The latter rewards attention and can blame harmful content on users, while AI’s customers usually want factual information, often for business-critical decisions, and AI companies are on the hook for any errors their tools make.