C014 — Claim Definition¶


Research	R0057 — RLHF Yes-Men Claims v3
Run	2026-04-01
Claim	C014

Claim as Received¶

A 2026 study published in Science documented the sycophancy problem.

Claim as Clarified¶

A 2026 study published in Science documented the sycophancy problem.

BLUF¶

Confirmed. Cheng et al. 'Sycophantic AI decreases prosocial intentions and promotes dependence' was published in Science in March 2026. It is a peer-reviewed study documenting sycophancy across 11 LLMs.

Scope¶

Domain: AI sycophancy research
Timeframe: Current (2024-2026)
Testability: Verifiable against published research and public records

Assessment Summary¶

Probability: Almost certain (95-99%)

Confidence: High

Hypothesis outcome: H1 is supported based on available evidence.

[Full assessment in assessment.md.]

Status¶

Field	Value
Date created	2026-04-01
Date completed	2026-04-01
Researcher profile	Phillip Moore
Prompt version	Unified Research Methodology v1
Revisit by	2027-04-01
Revisit trigger	If the study is retracted