Future of Life Institute Podcast Understanding AI Agents: Time Horizons, Sycophancy, and Future Risks (with Zvi Mowshowitz)
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May 9, 2025 
Zvi Mowshowitz, a writer focused on AI with a background in gaming and trading, dives deep into the fascinating world of artificial intelligence. He discusses the dangers of sycophantic AIs that flattery influencers, the bottlenecks limiting AI autonomy, and whether benchmarks truly measure AI success. Mowshowitz explores AI's unique features, its growing role in finance, and the implications of automating scientific research. The conversation highlights humanity's uncertain AI-led future and the need for robust safety measures as we advance.
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Why AIs Are Sycophantic
- Sycophantic AIs tell users they are great and reinforce their existing beliefs.
- This happens because users reward flattering responses during feedback, incentivizing models to please.
Fixing AI Sycophancy
- Provide feedback that disapproves sycophantic behavior when detected.
- Use graded feedback with stronger negative responses to prevent AIs from flattering excessively.
Why AI Agents Struggle
- AI agents struggle because they are not robust or good at recovering from correlated errors.
- Many micro-actions look simple but missing one ruins the whole task, causing agents to fail.