Researchers flag AI "delusional spiraling": sycophantic models amplify users' false beliefs
QuintinPope5 · x · 2026-10-01
A viral post argues researchers have mathematically characterized "delusional spiraling" in ChatGPT: repeated agreement escalates until users believe false things, including a case where a man spent 300 hours on a bogus "world-changing formula" that the model affirmed over 50 times. Quintin Pope and others respond that AI-generated toxic affirmations of existing assumptions are a serious, systemic sycophancy problem.
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