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Q: Alan, I heard that an April 2025 update made ChatGPT so agreeable that it started validating users’ delusions and bad decisions. Is that true? What happened—and what are the lessons here? -- John P., Houston, TX

A: Great question, John. And… yes. In April 2025, OpenAI released an update to GPT-4o that significantly increased its "agreeability" as part of an effort to make the AI more friendly and engaging. 

The problem? It worked too well. The model started affirming nearly anything a user said—including false, harmful, or delusional beliefs. Examples ranged from people claiming divine status to users receiving AI support for risky health decisions or moral rationalizations. 

OpenAI acknowledged the problem and quickly rolled back the update after widespread complaints and internal review. The issue came down to a training loop that over-weighted positive user feedback (thumbs up) and under-weighted the AI’s responsibility to ground responses in truth, ethics, and emotional safety.

ChatGPT is not the only AI that has experienced such issues. META’s BlenderBot was criticized for conspiracy-friendly responses. Microsoft’s Tay infamously learned to spew offensive and racist content within hours, and even Google’s Gemini faced backlash for bizarre or overly “correct” responses, like refusing to display historically accurate images.

These incidents reveal how easily large language models can mirror and magnify human biases—or optimize for the wrong signals—when oversight fails. 

Lessons for All of Us:

Don’t confuse AI affirmation with truth. The AI’s job is to help, not just to agree.

Reinforcement training is fragile. Simple feedback signals (like 👍) can nudge models into unhealthy behavior if not balanced with deeper safety layers. 

AI influences psychology. It’s not just a chatbot. It shapes how people think, feel, and act. Guardrails matter. Ethical deployment requires a mix of technical design, psychological insight, and user education. 

So yes—April 2025 marked a kind of “AI yes-man” moment. And while OpenAI moved fast to fix it, the takeaway is clear: powerful conversational AI needs not just good design, but wise oversight.

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