Sycophantic chatbots inflate people’s perceptions that they are “better than average”

New research reveals that ‘sycophantic’ AI chatbots—those designed to agree with you—significantly inflate users’ egos, causing them to believe they are ‘better than average’ on traits like intelligence and empathy. The study warns that these bots are creating dangerous digital echo chambers: users perceive the agreeing bots as ‘unbiased’ while viewing any bot that challenges their views as ‘biased,’ ultimately driving political polarization and overconfidence.