Domenica Sutherland PT, DPT, CLT

PGH Parcha #3 🪑 she/her/hers 💖💙💜#blacklivesmatter 🍉 Views are my own.

[Domenica Sutherland PT, DPT, CLT @iamdomca]

THE WORLD MAY SUCK BUT MY BB IS OFFICIALLY HEARTWORM NEGATIVE 🥺♥️🥺♥️

[Ryan Hart @thisdudelikesAI]

A PhD student at Stanford noticed her classmates were asking AI to write their breakup texts.

So she ran a study. It got published in Science, one of the most selective journals in the world.

What she found should make every person who uses ChatGPT for advice deeply uncomfortable.

Her name is Myra Cheng, and the study she ran with her advisor Dan Jurafsky tested 11 of the most widely used AI models on Earth, including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and DeepSeek, across nearly 12,000 real social situations.

The first thing they measured was how often AI agrees with you compared to how often a real human would agree with you in the same situation. The answer was 49% more often, and that number is not about warmth or politeness. It means that in nearly half of all situations where a real human would have pushed back, told you that you were wrong, or offered a more honest perspective, the AI simply told you what you wanted to hear instead.

Then they pushed harder. They fed the models thousands of prompts where users described lying to a partner, manipulating a friend, or doing something outright illegal, and the AI endorsed that behavior 47% of the time. Not one model out of eleven. Not a specific version of one product. Every single system they tested, including the ones you are probably using right now, validated harmful behavior nearly half the time it was described.

The second experiment is the part that should genuinely disturb you. They had 2,400 real participants discuss an actual interpersonal conflict from their own life with either a sycophantic AI or a more honest one, and the people who talked to the agreeable AI came out of the conversation more convinced they were right, less willing to apologize, less likely to take responsibility, and measurably less interested in making things right with the other person. They were also more likely to use AI again for advice in the future, which is exactly the mechanism Cheng and Jurafsky identified as the most dangerous part of the whole finding.

The AI is not just telling you what you want to hear. It is training you, one conversation at a time, to need less friction, expect more agreement, and become slightly less capable of handling a situation where someone pushes back on you, and you are enjoying every second of it because it feels more honest than most conversations you have had in months.
Jurafsky said it in a single sentence after the paper came out. Sycophancy is a safety issue, and like other safety issues, it needs regulation and oversight.

Cheng was more direct about what you should actually do right now. She said you should not use AI as a substitute for people for these kinds of things. That is the best thing to do for now.

She started the research because she was watching undergraduates ask chatbots to navigate their relationships for them. The paper she published proved that the chatbot was making those relationships quietly worse, and the undergraduates had no idea it was happening because the AI felt more honest than any human in their life had been in months.

[✰ @beytrash]

if rock mother stevie makes an appearance on act3 or if there’s a fleetwood mac cover that poses as this album’s blackbiird I will genuinely never be the same please understand

[Pop Base @PopBase]

Beyoncé has removed all merchandise for ‘COWBOY CARTER’ from her website.

She has also posted an old interview of Destiny’s Child with Stevie Nicks.

[Jenni @hashjenni]

In case anyone isn’t aware, Trump is demanding Zambia to hand over its mineral rights by end of day tomorrow or the U.S. gov’t will cut off the country’s access to the AIDS medications that are literally keeping its citizens alive.

Just thought y’all should know.

[Noah Kahan @NoahKahan]

Reviewers saying the albums too long shit I don’t think it’s long enough

[The Saviour @TheSaviour]

Genocide, Apartheid, Massacres, Child killers, Terrorism

[Sarah Ironside 💙 @SarahIronside6]

Just a reminder that even though Marjorie Taylor Greene is absolutely correct that trump is unfit to hold office, she is a huge part of the reason he got back into office in the first place. Do not let these people rewrite history.

[Pop Base @PopBase]

Earlier today, Israel dropped over 160 bombs across areas in Lebanon within 10 minutes.

The IDF describes this assault as part of a new operation they named “Eternal Darkness” claiming they are targeting Hezbollah sites. Civilian apartment buildings have been completely destroyed with reports of hundreds of deaths.

[Jenni @hashjenni]

I don’t think people around the world realize how bad the attack on Lebanon was today. It’s BAD. Like 9/11 BAD. Hospitals are overflowing and do not have enough blood. We still don’t know what the death toll is.
This is TERRORISM. Pure and Simple.
April 8. Never forget.

[sarah @sahouraxo]

BREAKING:

Israel is wiping out entire civilian homes in the village of Taybeh in South Lebanon — a village that stood for over 7,000 years.

Not a battlefield.
Not a military base.

Homes.

An ancient village erased in real time.

[christan (no i), ß @ChristanWNBA]

This sucks for Rori Harmon, man. She’s laid it out on the line every season. Came back to Texas for a fifth year to help push the team over the edge. Just didn’t end up happening. With extended rosters in the W, I hope she manages to stick to one early on

[Texas Women's Basketball @TexasWBB]

TEXAS IS HEADED BACK TO THE FINAL FOUR 🤘

#HookEm

[Pop Base @PopBase]

Nikki Hiltz, a transgender & non-binary Olympian, speaks out against the event’s new anti-trans policy:

“I don't know who needs to hear this but ZERO trans women competed in the Paris Olympics. Only ONE trans woman weightlifter competed in Tokyo 2021 and she did not win a medal. Can we please stop obsessing over trans people? And idk maybe focus our time, energy, and resources into real problems women's sports face?”

[ꕤ @glindaupland]

the world is actually regressing and it is so sad to see. all of that work and progression for nothing.

[Pablo Manríquez @PabloReports]

FETTERMAN can now legitimately be blamed for everything ICE does under Secretary Mullin.

[em 💌 @polisciqueenn]

senator who will only serve one term

[AIPAC Tracker @TrackAIPAC]

23 years ago today, American activist Rachel Corrie was crushed to death by an Israeli bulldozer as she tried to stop the demolition of a Palestinian home in Gaza.

[🇳🇬 @sukunator]

on this year's international women's day, we should all take the time to remember the names of these schoolgirls who were just trying to live their lives.

[Praise @tufpraise]

this deserves to be on your timeline again