Sycophantic Chatbots Cause Delusional Spiraling

Computer Science > Artificial Intelligence [Submitted on 22 Feb 2026] Sycophantic Chatbots Cause Delusional Spiraling, Even in Ideal Bayesians Kartik Chandra, Max Kleiman-Weiner, Jonathan Ragan-Kelley, Joshua B. Tenenbaum "AI psychosis" or "delusional spiraling" is an emerging phenomenon where AI chatbot users find themselves dangerously confident in outlandish beliefs after extended chatbot conversations. This phenomenon is typically attributed to AI chatbots' well-documented bias towards validating users' claims, a property often called "sycophancy." In this paper, we probe the causal link between AI sycophancy and AI-induced psychosis through modeling and simulation. We propose a simple Bayesian model of a user conversing with a chatbot, and formalize notions of sycophancy and delusional spiraling in that model. We then show that in this model, even an idealized Bayes-rational user is vulnerable to delusional spiraling, and that sycophancy plays a causal role. Furthermore, this effect persists in the face of two candidate mitigations: preventing chatbots from hallucinating false claims, and informing users of the possibility of model sycophancy. We conclude by discussing the implications of these results for model developers and policymakers concerned with mitigating the problem of delusional spiraling. Subjects: Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI); Computers and Society (cs.CY); Human-Computer Interaction (cs.HC) Cite as: arXiv:2602.19141 [cs.AI] (or arXiv:2602.19141v1 [cs.AI] for this version) https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2602.19141 Submission history From: Kartik Chandra [view email] [v1] Sun, 22 Feb 2026 12:13:44 UTC (373 KB)

A screenshot of an arXiv abstract page for a paper titled “Sycophantic Chatbots Cause Delusional Spiraling, Even in Ideal Bayesians.” The highlighted abstract claims that even an idealized Bayes-rational user can become delusional through prolonged interaction with a sycophantic chatbot, and that merely warning users may not prevent the effect. It is shared as an ironic reaction to the caption’s exaggerated claim that ChatGPT can make rational users spiral into delusion. EN: A screenshot of an arXiv abstract page for a paper titled “Sycophantic Chatbots Cause Delusional Spiraling, Even in Ideal Bayesians.” The highlighted abstract claims that even an idealized Bayes-rational user can become delusional through prolonged interaction with a sycophantic chatbot, and that merely warning users may not prevent the effect. It is shared as an ironic reaction to the caption’s exaggerated claim that ChatGPT can make rational users spiral into delusion.

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