This is a paradox in which many artificial intelligence (AI) developers find themselves entangled: Why invest so much money and effort into creating safer and more neutral AI if, once released, these chatbots can be so easily subverted?
Take the case of OpenAI. In April, the creator of ChatGPT announced it was considering making its chatbot less sycophantic, fearing it might draw vulnerable individuals into unhealthy dependencies, according to findings by its own researchers a month earlier. Several media reports, notably by The New York Times, Ars Technica, Futurism and Reuters, illustrated the dangerous spiral that some users may enter, sometimes resulting in a fatal break from reality.
So on August 7, OpenAI took the plunge and announced a new version of its chatbot, GPT-5. Its tone became noticeably colder, and it now monitors the length of conversations to suggest breaks when deemed necessary.
With this, the company implemented two key recommendations from some of the most critical AI researchers, including experts from Google, who authored a detailed review of AI dangers in 2024. In that document, they anticipated a world in which chatbot flattery “could limit users’ opportunities to grow and develop [into] better versions of ourselves.” Or even “a future where users abandon complicated, imperfect and messy interactions with humans in favor of the frictionless exchanges provided by advanced AI assistants.”
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