tinkfury

[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.

[matt bernstein @mattxiv]

reading this tweet feels like falling down a flight of stairs

[𝕐o̴g̴ @Yoda4ever]

Seven dogs stolen from their owners have gone viral after escaping from an illegal transport truck and making their way home.

They traveled around 17 km together, led by a corgi across highways and fields, now safely back with their respective owners..🐶🐾🥺❤️

[Omari Salisbury @Omarisal]

If you live in Seattle / King County this election is HUGE! Do not sit this one out. Local elections impact our everyday life way more. We will all live the the consequences of this election so you might as well make your voice heard.

[tinkfury @tinkfury]

Meta and Instagram are censoring my freedom of speech for speaking out about Alaska and Trump’s moronic decision to basically destroy the Alaskan arctic with a 200+ mile gravel road and mining. Fuck this guy and his lackies.
#nopebblemining #savethewild

[William Buecker @wcbuecker]

@StephenM

[Piyush Mittal 🇺🇸🇺🇦🟧🌊🌈 @piyushmittal]

Hegseth and Trump tried to politicize the military and make it their own private army

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

MADELEINE DEAN: The president is unhinged. He is unwell.

MIKE JOHNSON: A lot of folks on your side are too

DEAN: Oh my god, please. That performance in front of the generals?

MIKE JOHNSON: I didn't see it

DEAN: It's so dangerous! Our allies are looking elsewhere. Our enemies are laughing. You have a president who is unwell.

[music wins @musicwins1]

a dog called Bradford vibing out to some music

[Dr Grace O'Malley Italian Witchypoo🇮🇪🇮🇹 @MalleyNotagain]

My level of petty

Would I be the arsehole to use this to wake himself and the kids every morning?

[tinkfury @tinkfury]

@EricLDaugh Hegseth seems obsessed about looks and optics rather than credibility and experience. Just because someone could pass these requirements doesn’t necessarily mean they would be fit for command.

[tinkfury @tinkfury]

@Uber_Support DM sent!

[tinkfury @tinkfury]

@UberEats hello, need help with an order that keeps taking way longer than it should. Even the app says this. Thanks

[tinkfury @tinkfury]

@BlueAngels Seattle loves you. Forever and always. 💙💛

[tinkfury @tinkfury]

two dark souls don’t make a light one

[tinkfury @tinkfury]

Sometimes telling yourself something is simply coincidence is better than hoping for something that never comes.

[tinkfury @tinkfury]

This makes me sick. We’re so fucked. 😔

[Roger Ledbetter @rledbetterCPA]

The House just released a list of options they may use to pay for the next big tax bill to extend current tax cuts.

Some expected, some zingers:

[tinkfury @tinkfury]

It’s always a bit jarring when friends recognize various masks I wear. Some unintentional. Others intentional based upon varying company. Always nice being reminded I’m appreciated for who I am without all the extras. I know I’m not alone in this. Just a bit momentarily surreal.