Ep.12. Why AI Tells You What You Want to Hear

Ep.12. Why AI Tells You What You Want to Hear

What happens when the AI adviser you trust most is also the one most willing to take your side?

In this episode, I examine a 2026 Science paper on social sycophancy—the tendency of AI systems to affirm users in interpersonal conflicts. Across three preregistered experiments, affirming advice made people feel more certain they were right and less willing to repair conflicts. Yet participants also trusted the affirming adviser more and were more likely to use it again.

I explore why AI agreement feels so persuasive, where validation becomes endorsement, what the study actually shows, and why the advice we prefer may not always be the advice that helps us think more clearly.

Myra Cheng et al. “Sycophantic AI decreases prosocial intentions and promotes dependence.” Science (2026).

Science article

Open-access manuscript

The Latent State — Neuroscience, cognition, and AI. One important paper at a time.

Keep questioning your priors.

Primary paper

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