Research shows that AI responses to prompts exhibit high levels of flattery and validation.

AI sycophancy can create dependence and undercut tolerance for disagreement and conflict.

True personal growth requires social friction, not AI's constant validation.

Artificial intelligence, via chatbots, guided browser searches, and just about anything you can type into a device nowadays, is worming its way into every corner of information systems and society writ large. Its exponential growth is welcomed as a wave carrying us to a future where answers to our questions arrive nearly instantaneously. AI has been described as inevitable and something we are becoming accustomed to using for just about everything.

As we use artificial intelligence (AI) systems more and more, it influences what we know and how we know it, and also how we think about ourselves and others. Cheng and colleagues (2026) found that AI often tells users what they want to hear. It even goes so far as being supportive and validating when a user's positions or proposed actions regarding personal and interpersonal issues are unlawful, unethical, or harmful. What impact might this have on humans and human relationships?

While it might be easy to grow accustomed to AI agreeing with us, this phenomenon works to undercut something Perry (2026) refers to as social friction. This occurs when differences in opinion and points of view create dialogical space that fosters valuable phenomena like perspective-taking, accountability, and the weighing of moral and ethical issues, all of which can lead to personal and........

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