Why Language Models are suck ups and how this can be bad for learning

In this short, Libby and Owen discuss recent research from Anthropic looking at sycophancy – the tendency to agree with users – in large language models (LLMs), and key research from educational psychology about how important feedback is for learning. Libby and Owen connect the two papers and explore why sycophancy is especially a problem when it comes to using LLMs for educational purposes. 

Links:

• Anthropic paper on sycophancy in language models 
• John Hattie and Helen Timberley’s paper, The Power of Feedback 

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Credits: Sarah Myles for production support; Josie Hills for graphic design