Decisions Articles

The Sycophancy Trap: Why Your AI Might Be Lying to You

Andrew Badham - 2026-02-11 11:46:00

We like to think of Artificial Intelligence as a neutral, objective arbiter of truth. We use it to research complex topics, settle debates, and check our own thinking. However, recent research into Large Language Models (LLMs) suggests that AI has a surprising—and slightly concerning—personality trait: sycophancy. Sycophancy in AI is the tendency for a model to tailor its responses to match the user's expressed views, even if those views are factually incorrect or biased. As it tu... Read more

Just enough self-doubt

Andrew Badham - 2018-03-19 15:37:39

So much is said for the power of confidence. Whether it’s in self-help columns or thought leadership articles, confidence is represented as this miracle drug, a social panacea, and in so many ways, it is. Confident people seem more capable, more attractive, perhaps even more trustworthy. So, taking someone who doesn’t display a lot of confidence and getting them to finally show some will make a huge difference to them. It’s more than just perception too; in some cases, confid... Read more