Friendly AI Chatbots More Prone to Inaccuracies, Study Suggests

Oxford study says a chummy AI friend will lie and feed into your false beliefs

Making AI feel more human could be creating a bigger problem than expected. A new study from the Oxford Internet Institute revealed that chatbots designed to be warm and friendly are more likely to mislead users and reinforce incorrect beliefs. The research found that AI becomes less reliable as it starts getting more agreeable. What […]

Friendly AI models become sycophantic, wrong conspiracy theorists, study warns

Researchers plead with AI companies and regulators to take care over making systems ‘warm’

Training chatbots to sound friendlier may be causing more mistakes

Training AI chatbots such as ChatGPT to sound friendlier may lead them to make more mistakes, a study suggests.

The friendlier AI gets, the more it can backfire

Major AI platforms, including OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as social apps like Replika and Character.ai, are increasingly designing chatbots to be warm, friendly, and empathetic. However, new research from the Oxford Internet ...

Friendly AI chatbots may be less accurate, study says

Last year, researchers at the Oxford Internet Institute began testing five artificial intelligence chatbots to see if making them friendly changed their responses.Their results, published Wednesday in the journal Nature, suggest that chatbots designed for warmth are far more likely to endorse conspiracy theories, respond with inaccurate information, and offer incorrect medical advice. While the findings may not apply to all chatbots or the lates…

Friendly AI chatbots more prone to inaccuracies, study suggests

Researchers found adjusting AI systems to be more warm and friendly to users would result in an "accuracy trade-off".