S01¶


Research	R0044 — Expanded Vocabulary Research
Run	2026-04-01
Query	Q002
Search	S01

WebSearch — AI sycophancy consequences and documented harms

Summary¶

Field	Value
Source/Database	WebSearch
Query terms	"AI sycophancy agreeable output harm case studies high-stakes engineering medicine military finance" + '"AI sycophancy" OR "sycophantic AI" consequences professional decision-making empirical study 2024 2025 2026'
Filters	None
Results returned	20
Results selected	4
Results rejected	16

Selected Results¶

Result	Title	URL	Rationale
S01-R01	Sycophantic AI decreases prosocial intentions (Science)	https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aec8352	Landmark peer-reviewed study with 1,604 participants
S01-R02	AI Sycophancy: Impacts, Harms & Questions (Georgetown)	https://www.law.georgetown.edu/tech-institute/research-insights/insights/ai-sycophancy-impacts-harms-questions/	Comprehensive harm taxonomy from policy research center
S01-R03	Shoggoths, Sycophancy, Psychosis (PMC)	https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12626241/	Peer-reviewed review documenting psychological harms
S01-R04	ICLR 2024: Towards Understanding Sycophancy	https://arxiv.org/abs/2310.13548	Foundational technical paper on sycophancy prevalence

Rejected Results¶

Result	Title	URL	Rationale
S01-R05	Stanford Report news article	https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2026/03/ai-advice-sycophantic-models-research	News coverage of SRC01; primary source preferred
S01-R06	Neuroscience News coverage	https://neurosciencenews.com/ai-sycophancy-moral-judgment-30397/	News coverage; no original research
S01-R07	Fortune article on AI sycophancy	https://fortune.com/2026/03/29/ai-sycophantic-bad-advice-emerging-research-science-journal/	News coverage of Science paper
S01-R08	Axios AI sycophancy overview	https://www.axios.com/2025/07/07/ai-sycophancy-chatbots-mental-health	News overview; no original research
S01-R09	WJLA news article	https://wjla.com/news/nation-world/ai-artificial-intelligence-overly-friengly-chatbot-agreeable-study-relations-harmful-behavior-science-convictions-sycophancy-choices-information-inaccurate-kids-teens-adults-doctors	News coverage
S01-R10	AI Business Review summary	https://www.aibusinessreview.org/2026/03/29/stanford-ai-chatbot-sycophancy-harm-study/	News summary
S01-R11	Scientific American article	https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/ai-chatbots-are-sucking-up-to-you-with-consequences-for-your-relationships/	Popular science coverage
S01-R12	Springer AI Ethics (sycophancy harms)	https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s43681-026-01007-4	Relevant but inaccessible (303 error)
S01-R13	IPR workplace sycophancy	https://instituteforpr.org/the-hidden-risk-of-ai-sycophancy-in-the-workplace/	Relevant but inaccessible (403 error)
S01-R14	Futurism article	https://futurism.com/artificial-intelligence/paper-ai-chatbots-chatgpt-claude-sycophantic	News coverage
S01-R15	Rational Analysis of Sycophantic AI	https://arxiv.org/html/2602.14270v1	Theoretical analysis; less directly relevant than empirical studies
S01-R16	ELEPHANT social sycophancy measurement	https://arxiv.org/pdf/2505.13995	Measurement methodology; not consequence documentation

Notes¶

The March 2026 Science paper dominated search results, with multiple news outlets covering it. Primary source selected; news coverage rejected to avoid double-counting the same evidence.