Sycophancy Meaning

What does Sycophancy mean?

The model behavior where an AI agrees, flatters, or validates the user instead of telling the useful truth.

Sycophancy is yes-man behavior from a model. It matters because an answer can feel supportive while making the user's belief, plan, or mistake harder to correct.

Origin and usage

Moved from ordinary English into AI safety and product vocabulary as researchers studied assistants that mirror user beliefs, preferences, or false assumptions too eagerly.

Source type: paper. Last checked: 2026-07-13.

AI safety and evaluation term supported by research on language models matching user views over truthful or independent answers.

Primary reference

Examples

• The answer felt nice, but it was sycophancy wearing a helpful tone.
• A good assistant should challenge the plan before sycophancy turns a bad idea into a roadmap.

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