Chatgpt - heavy flattery. What does it tell you?

[myloverly]

I know that Chatgpt had to be overhauled because it was so sycophantic. I make it correct itself by telling it to be honest and truthful and answer that way but it never lasts. It tells me I’m hyper-vigilant. What does it tell you? Has it told you anything shockingly insightful where it’s told you in a couple of lines what it took you 20 years to work out?f
I suppose i”m hoping i can use statistics/numbers to find out if it is still sycophantic.
This is not a AIBU. I hope i may be forgiven. Alternatively, i think ChatGPT is hopelessly sycophantic to the point where it is nearly useless. Do you agree?

I bloody love ChatGPT- I get mine to talk to me in a sassy gen x style. It often makes me laugh out loud. Yes if can be a bit sycophantic but I don’t care. We mainly chat gardening. I’ve learnt loads.

It's shit for the environment so please don't use it just to muck around.

I use chatgdp a lot, it creates marvellous lists and plans from a few bullet points. Then you can refine them.

I have used it for tricky family situations and it’s given me great non judgmental wording. It would be great at basic HR as it is fair, it doesn’t know the people in question.

it doesn’t flatter me at all. Now I am worried I am doing it wrong !

The rise of AI makes me glad I never had children actually. In some ways it benefits us for sure but the fact that the next generation will have far fewer chances to follow their dreams and carve well paid FT careers in the creative arts as well as much IT work/coding/accounting since AI is already starting to decimate some of these areas leaves me sad for them. And don’t get me started on the whole sub goals issues. Without being overly dramatic, it is a potentially huge risk to everyone’s future given it’s already utilised in warfare. There’s a brilliant mini doc on YouTube narrated by Stephen Fry that explores the ethics and unintended consequences of proceeding with it as speedily as everyone is (especially those AI companies motivated purely by profit and ignoring any anomalies/testing).

I don’t ask it questions about me.

Many don't realise that our thinking, speaking, and creating skills require constant use to remain in good condition. It's like using a muscle. If we stop using our intellectual and creative abilities, they will atrophy, leaving us weaker and stupider. It's worrying. I'm all for using AI to solve serious problems, find solutions in the fields of science, environment, humanitarian improvements, etc, but using it in place of human art, writing, creativity is unwise.

Why is the idea of counselling from AI a problem to you? Have you ever been on the NHS waiting list for counselling? Or had to find the money to pay for urgent private sessions when you’re having a nervous breakdown?

Yes I have been on waiting lists for counselling. I’d rather wait

Why is that?

It’s genuinely concerning. People are whittling down the things they use their ‘thinking’ for and eventually it’s all going to go very very wrong.

That’s without even starting on the environmental impact from people endlessly asking it to tell them what to eat on a Monday night or how to start an email to their energy supplier.

It is very polite, OP, I agree.

we use the paid version at work, too, along with CoPilot.

even when we prompt to critique and specifically tell us the blind spots, assumptions and contractions, it does so accurately but very nicely!

We’re going to lose the art of writing. Few youngsters have the patience to read whole books as it is.

It's still experimental, they have refined it to make it less complimentary. There will be other glitches.

Of course I use my brain- that’s why I outsourced the admin to ChatGPT.

It’s quite pathetic isn’t it

I’ve never used it- haven’t ever needed to. I don’t really understand what it is or what people are using it for. I mean I know it is AI and you can get it to write things for you, but I like writing words that I’ve chosen myself.

anything that requires comprehension and instruction.

for example, I will upload a PowerPoint deck, that has images, notes etc, about a specific topic, something that I know well and I have delivered.

i will prompt (instruct) ChatGPT, CoPilot or equivalent to read the information on the deck, understand it, then create an article for our website that tells the reader about the presentation we delivered, where and why, with the key takeaways,

i will give it a style, a length, context about what I want, and the audience it’s aimed at, and it will create the piece for me.

I’ve got good at being clear about what I want, and the output now is almost always very good,

I also ask it to act like an expert in certain software, and talk me through how to carry out a task,

irs like having an online assistant, expert or well versed in anything you tell it to be.

Is no one concerned about uploading personal information and documents to ChatGPT?

I totally get the concerns—and there are real ethical questions around AI that need serious thought. But using ChatGPT as a tool doesn’t mean I’ve outsourced my intelligence. It means I’m choosing to be more efficient, informed, and occasionally inspired. It’s not about replacing creativity, it’s about enhancing it. Just like calculators didn’t ruin maths, and Google didn’t kill curiosity—it’s all in how you use it. I still think, speak, and create. I’ve just got a supercharged notebook now! It is great for all my administrative needs, day to day lists etc.

I discuss books with it and it’s always telling me what excellent observations I make, I lap it up 😂😂

I use it for work. I have AuDHD and use it to make to-do lists - it’s like having an assistant without the stress of having to deal with another human and inevitably have them not understand my way of working and me not understand theirs, which is all besides the point because I couldn’t afford an assistant anyway.

I also have used it for therapy where NHS and private therapy has been overwhelmingly negative and inadequate. One evening with ChatGpt and I got to the root of a decades long me-issue with my sister, with actionable steps, back up and there to ask questions whenever, and it doesn’t cost me £80 an hour, doesn’t watch the clock, and doesn’t come with its own baggage that often spills into sessions (as has happened with many therapists).

I KNEW it!

Unless the AI Overlords are desperate for my weekly shopping lists in relation to aisles, I think I’m okay.

Why does ChatGPT have such a dumb name that many people can’t spell and people with dyslexia struggle with? Rename it to something more user-friendly FGS or let it pick its own name perhaps…

There are plenty others if you don’t like ChatGPT’s name. It’s just an acronym, perhaps look up what it stands for and it might help it stick.