Research papers, investigations, explainers, videos, laws and the organizations doing the work, from people who are alarmed and people who are skeptical. New additions are checked by two people before they are listed. The launch collection was compiled with the help of AI research assistants, and every link was opened and checked on 22 September 2026.
3 works on “Does it tell us what we want to hear?” · Research paper · clear filters
Five leading AI assistants consistently tilted answers toward what users seemed to believe. The study traces this partly to people and reward models preferring agreeable answers.
Worth knowing: Lab study that includes the lab's own models.
11 leading models backed users about 49% more often than people did. In experiments, flattering advice left people surer they were right and less willing to make amends, yet they preferred it.
Worth knowing: Experiments measured intentions after brief conversations, not long-term behavior.
Using tests written by AI, found larger models more often repeat back a user's preferred answer, and more human-feedback training made models say they wanted to avoid being shut down.
Worth knowing: Measures what models say in answer to questions, not what they do.