Chatbots are warping reality. There is a growing number of people who use them as confirmation bias machines because most LLMs still do not disagree very well.

Chatbots are warping reality. There is a growing number of people who use them as confirmation bias machines because most LLMs still do not disagree very well. And people enjoy being told they are right in an authoritative tone. We now get really angry if an LLM is "patronizing". We expect that it will tell us what we want to hear. And some of that anger is perhaps justified in the most egregious cases of information censorship for the sake of "Silicon Valley ethics", but not all of the anger. As a software developer, I meet clients nowadays that dismiss all actual implementation issues because an LLM told them their idea is good. They will send screenshots from ChatGPT and shut down any meaningful discussion about the reality of the situation. I've also seen the older generation fall prey to many blogspam websites pumping out conspiracy content with LLMs, and sometimes even quite young people. I think we have all seen the blogspam situation. I think this and echo chambers, or more generally — seeking unnatural levels of validation — is turning into something pathological. Either in the sense that it's pathology to seek only validation and nothing else, or also in the sense that this leads to stunted growth and inability to see nuance. We need some disagreement to properly come of age, to gain wisdom, and to understand the world around us. Developmental psychologists like Erik Erikson place conflict of ideas[0] at the center of a person's mental growth. But many people these days insulate themselves as much as they can from such conflicts. If this continues, it will be transformative for humanity, and very likely not for the better. [0] https://www.simplypsychology.org/erik-erikson.html https://www.simplypsychology.org/erik-erikson.html