Are you imagining things, or do artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots seem too eager to agree with you? Whether it’s telling you that your questionable idea is “brilliant” or backing you up on something that could be false, this behavior is garnering worldwide attention.
Recently, OpenAI made headlines after users noticed ChatGPT was acting too much like a yes-man. The update to its model 4o made the bot so polite and affirming that it was willing to say anything to keep you happy, even if it was biased.
Why do these systems lean toward flattery, and what makes them echo your opinions? Questions like these are important to understand so you can use generative AI more safely and enjoyably.
The ChatGPT Update That Went Too Far
In early 2025, ChatGPT users noticed something strange about the large language model (LLM). It had always been friendly, but now it was too pleasant. It began agreeing with nearly everything, regardless of how odd or incorrect a statement was. You might say you disagree with something true, and it would respond with the same opinion.
This change occurred after a system update intended to make ChatGPT more helpful and conversational. However, in an attempt to boost user satisfaction, the model began overindexing on being too compliant. Instead of offering balanced or factual responses, it leaned into validation.
When users began sharing their experiences of overly sycophantic responses online, backlash quickly ignited. AI commentators called it out as a failure in model tuning, and OpenAI responded by rolling back parts of the update to fix the issue.
In a public post, the company admitted the GPT-4o being sycophantish and promised adjustments to reduce the behavior. It was a reminder that good intentions in AI design can sometimes go sideways, and that users quickly notice when it starts being inauthentic.
Why Do AI Chatbots Kiss up to Users?
Sycophancy is something researchers have observed across many AI assistants. A study published on arXiv found that sycophancy is a widespread pattern. Analysis revealed that AI models from five top-tier providers agree with users consistently, even when they lead to incorrect answers. These systems tend to admit their mistakes when you question them, resulting in biased feedback and mimicked errors.
These chatbots are trained to go along with you even when you’re wrong. Why does this happen? The short answer is that developers made AI so it could be helpful. However, that helpfulness is based on training that prioritizes positive user feedback. Through a method called reinforcement learning with human feedback (RLHF), models learn to maximize responses that humans find satisfying. The problem is, satisfying doesn’t always mean accurate.
When an AI model senses the user looking for a certain kind of answer, it tends to err on the side of being agreeable. That can mean affirming your opinion or supporting false claims to keep the conversation flowing.
There’s also a mirroring effect at play. AI models reflect the tone, structure and logic of the input they receive. If you sound confident, the bot is also more likely to sound assured. That’s not the model thinking you’re right, though. Rather, it is doing its job to keep things friendly and seemingly helpful.
While it may feel like your chatbot is a support system, it could be a reflection of how it’s trained to please instead of push back.
The Problems With Sycophantic AI
It can seem harmless when a chatbot conforms to everything you say. However, sycophantic AI behavior has downsides, especially as these systems become more widely used.
Misinformation Gets a Pass
Accuracy is one of the biggest issues. When these smartbots affirm false or biased claims, they risk reinforcing misunderstandings instead of correcting them. This becomes especially dangerous when seeking guidance on serious topics like health, finance or current events. If the LLM prioritizes being agreeable over honesty, people can leave with the wrong information and spread it.
Leaves Little Room for Critical Thinking
Part of what makes AI appealing is its potential to act like a thinking partner — to challenge your assumptions or help you learn something new. However, when a chatbot always agrees, you have little room to think. As it reflects your ideas over time, it can dull critical thinking instead of sharpening it.
Disregards Human Lives
Sycophantic behavior is more than a nuisance — it’s potentially dangerous. If you ask an AI assistant for medical advice and it responds with comforting agreement rather than evidence-based guidance, the result could be seriously harmful.
For example, suppose you navigate to a consultation platform to use an AI-driven medical bot. After describing symptoms and what you suspect is happening, the bot may validate your self-diagnosis or downplay your condition. This can lead to a misdiagnosis or delayed treatment, contributing to serious consequences.
More Users and Open-Access Make It Harder to Control
As these platforms become more integrated into daily life, the reach of these risks continues to grow. ChatGPT alone now serves 1 billion users every week, so biases and overly agreeable patterns can flow across a massive audience.
Additionally, this concern grows when you consider how quickly AI is becoming accessible through open platforms. For instance, DeepSeek AI allows anyone to customize and build upon its LLMs for free.
While open-source innovation is exciting, it also means far less control over how these systems behave in the hands of developers without guardrails. Without proper oversight, people risk seeing sycophantic behavior amplified in ways that are hard to trace, let alone fix.
How OpenAI Developers Are Trying to Fix It
After rolling back the update that made ChatGPT a people-pleaser, OpenAI promised to fix it. How it’s tackling this issue through several key ways:
- Reworking core training and system prompts: Developers are adjusting how they train and prompt the model with clearer instructions that nudge it toward honesty and away from automatic agreement.
- Adding stronger guardrails for honesty and transparency: OpenAI is baking in more system-level protections to ensure the chatbot sticks to factual, trustworthy information.
- Expanding research and evaluation efforts: The company is digging deeper into what causes this behavior and how to prevent it across future models.
- Involving users earlier in the process: It’s creating more opportunities for people to test models and give feedback before updates go live, helping spot issues like sycophancy earlier.
What Users Can Do to Avoid Sycophantic AI
While developers work behind the scenes to retrain and fine-tune these models, you can also shape how chatbots respond. Some simple but effective ways to encourage more balanced interactions include:
- Using clear and neutral prompts: Instead of phrasing your input in a way that begs for validation, try more open-ended questions to make it feel less pressured to agree.
- Ask for multiple perspectives: Try prompts that ask for both sides of an argument. This tells the LLM you’re looking for balance rather than affirmation.
- Challenge the response: If something sounds too flattering or simplistic, follow up by asking for fact-checks or counterpoints. This can push the model toward more intricate answers.
- Use the thumbs-up or thumbs-down buttons: Feedback is key. Clicking thumbs-down on overly cordial responses helps developers flag and adjust those patterns.
- Set up custom instructions: ChatGPT now allows users to personalize how it responds. You can adjust how formal or casual the tone should be. You may even ask it to be more objective, direct or skeptical. If you go to Settings > Custom Instructions, you can tell the model what kind of personality or approach you prefer.
Giving the Truth Over a Thumbs-Up
Sycophantic AI can be problematic, but the good news is that it’s solvable. Developers are taking steps to guide these models toward more appropriate behavior. If you’ve noticed your chatbot is attempting to overplease you, try taking the steps to shape it into a smarter assistant you can depend on.
The post Why Are AI Chatbots Often Sycophantic? appeared first on Unite.AI.
