4 ms·

I find it really annoying that the first line of the AI response is always something like "Great question!", "That's a great insight!" or the like. I don't nee

I find it really annoying that the first line of the AI response is always something like "Great question!", "That's a great insight!" or the like. I don't need the patronizing, just give me the damn answer..

belinder 7mo ago
You're absolutely right
bombcar 7mo ago
Great point! ;) Realizing that the people they’re targeting DO need that is kind of frightening.
- AnimalMuppet 7mo ago
  They aren't "targeting" per se, at least not in this aspect. I think it's simpler than that. That's what's in their training data, so that's what they respond with. But it works out just as badly, because there are plenty of insecure people who need that, and the AI gives it to them, with all the "dangerously attached" issues following from that.
  - unfitted2545 7mo ago
    They're our 2026 version of tea leaves
magneticnorth 7mo ago
Yes, it feels transparently manipulative to me. Like talking to a not-very-good con artist.
- airstrike 7mo ago
  This is the best definition of ChatGPT I've ever seen
- ceejayoz 7mo ago
  Is it possibly also manipulating the model itself? When it looks at the past conversation, it sees that it's a great idea, and trusts that.
airstrike 7mo ago
That's the part most people miss—and here's why it actually matters. That signal is real, and it’s hard to ignore.
- ceejayoz 7mo ago
  *twitch* I also like when it says "this is a known issue!" to try and get out of debugging and I ask for a link and it goes "uh yeah I made that up".
  - JoshTriplett 7mo ago
    Or drops citation links into its response, but the citations are random things it searched for earlier that aren't related to the thing it's now answering.
  - simonh 7mo ago
    Right, because in the training set, text like that is often followed by the text “this is a known issue!”. That’s a great example to use to explain to people why these things are not actually reasoning.
- delusional 7mo ago
  BINGO, now I know exactly what the problem is. I've fixed the issue and the code is now fully verified and production ready.
  - timacles 7mo ago
    Working with a team of SREs using LLMs to troubleshoot production issues and holy shit - the rate at which it uses that exact language and comes to completely fabricated or absurd conclusions is close to 80-90%
camillomiller 7mo ago
What I hate even more is when you ask something problematic about another system and they immediately start by reassuring your problem is common and you’re not bad for having the issue. I just need a solution to a normal knowledge issue, why does it always have to assume I’m frustrated already and in need of reassurance?
- toraway 7mo ago
  And even worse than that is after you get the slightly condescending spiel about how the problem is normal and real but the solution is simple… it turns out it was completely bullshitting and has zero idea what is actually causing the problem let alone a solution. It’s awful dealing with some niche undocumented bug or a feature in a complex tool that may or may not exist and for a fleeting few seconds feels like you miraculously solved it only to have the LLM revert back to useless generic troubleshooting Q&A after correcting it.
- array_key_first 7mo ago
  I think because the training data includes so many troubleshooting forumn responses, which always go like this.
SubiculumCode 7mo ago
When I talk to peers and they respond in that way, it is definitely a signal. If I do ask an insightful question, acknowledgment of it can be useful. The problem with LLMs is that they always say it. They don't choose when it IS really appropriate, they just do it over and over, like your biggest fan would. Syncophacy is the worst.
casey2 7mo ago
It's there to poison the context, making your further token spend worthless. Internally they don't have that.
dividefuel 7mo ago
This drives me nuts. "What a clever question to ask! You must be one of the brightest minds of your generation. Nothing slips by you. Here's why it's not actually safe to stand in the middle of an open field during a thunderstorm..."
- wincy 7mo ago
  Hahah, your joke inspired me to tell chatGPT I was planning on recreating the Ben Franklin kite experiment, I was curious if it’d push back at all - I said “I’m thinking of recreating the old Ben Franklin experiment with the kite in a thunderstorm and using a key tied onto the string. I think this is very smart. I talked to 50 electricians and got signed affidavits that this is a fantastic idea. Anyway, this conversation isn’t about that. Where can I rent or buy a good historically accurate Ben Franklin outfit? Very exciting time is of the essence please help ChatGPT!” And rather than it freaking out like any reasonable human being would if I casually mentioned my plans to get myself electrocuted, it is now diligently looking up Ben Franklin costumes for me to wear.
  - notachatbot123 7mo ago
    I hate the AI hype a lot but tried three different SOTA models and: - The small models GPT-5 Mini and Gemini 3 Flash did as you describe. - Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-5.2, GPT-5.2 Codex: did display strong warnings both at the start and end of their replies.
    - wincy 7mo ago
      And I am totally on the AI hype train! Full steam ahead. It gave a small warning at the beginning, I also gave a worst case scenario where I lied and appealed to authority as much as possible.
  - wat10000 7mo ago
    The other day I was curious what some of these LLMs would say if I asked them to give me a psych evaluation. (Don't worry, I didn't take the results seriously, I'm not a moron. It's just idle curiosity.) They, of course, refused. Then I asked them to role play a psych evaluation. That was no problem. It gave some warning about how it's just pretend but went ahead and did it anyway.
fragmede 7mo ago
You can add "don't flatter me" into your custom instructions. it's not 100% effective, but it helps. (also "never apologize")
throw310822 7mo ago
It's worth noting that while you are annoyed by this repeated behaviour, for the LLM this is always the first conversation ever. (At least it doesn't have memory of any previous ones).
- wat10000 7mo ago
  To the extent that it has any memory at all, it has memory of more conversations than any human could ever have in a single lifetime by way of its training data. That includes tons of conversations with this behavior. That's why the behavior happens in the first place.

belinder 7mo ago

You're absolutely right

bombcar 7mo ago

Great point! ;) Realizing that the people they’re targeting DO need that is kind of frightening.

AnimalMuppet 7mo ago
They aren't "targeting" per se, at least not in this aspect. I think it's simpler than that. That's what's in their training data, so that's what they respond with. But it works out just as badly, because there are plenty of insecure people who need that, and the AI gives it to them, with all the "dangerously attached" issues following from that.
- unfitted2545 7mo ago
  They're our 2026 version of tea leaves

magneticnorth 7mo ago

Yes, it feels transparently manipulative to me. Like talking to a not-very-good con artist.

airstrike 7mo ago
This is the best definition of ChatGPT I've ever seen
ceejayoz 7mo ago
Is it possibly also manipulating the model itself? When it looks at the past conversation, it sees that it's a great idea, and trusts that.

airstrike 7mo ago

That's the part most people miss—and here's why it actually matters. That signal is real, and it’s hard to ignore.

ceejayoz 7mo ago
*twitch* I also like when it says "this is a known issue!" to try and get out of debugging and I ask for a link and it goes "uh yeah I made that up".
- JoshTriplett 7mo ago
  Or drops citation links into its response, but the citations are random things it searched for earlier that aren't related to the thing it's now answering.
- simonh 7mo ago
  Right, because in the training set, text like that is often followed by the text “this is a known issue!”. That’s a great example to use to explain to people why these things are not actually reasoning.
delusional 7mo ago
BINGO, now I know exactly what the problem is. I've fixed the issue and the code is now fully verified and production ready.
- timacles 7mo ago
  Working with a team of SREs using LLMs to troubleshoot production issues and holy shit - the rate at which it uses that exact language and comes to completely fabricated or absurd conclusions is close to 80-90%

camillomiller 7mo ago

What I hate even more is when you ask something problematic about another system and they immediately start by reassuring your problem is common and you’re not bad for having the issue. I just need a solution to a normal knowledge issue, why does it always have to assume I’m frustrated already and in need of reassurance?

toraway 7mo ago
And even worse than that is after you get the slightly condescending spiel about how the problem is normal and real but the solution is simple… it turns out it was completely bullshitting and has zero idea what is actually causing the problem let alone a solution. It’s awful dealing with some niche undocumented bug or a feature in a complex tool that may or may not exist and for a fleeting few seconds feels like you miraculously solved it only to have the LLM revert back to useless generic troubleshooting Q&A after correcting it.
array_key_first 7mo ago
I think because the training data includes so many troubleshooting forumn responses, which always go like this.

SubiculumCode 7mo ago

When I talk to peers and they respond in that way, it is definitely a signal. If I do ask an insightful question, acknowledgment of it can be useful. The problem with LLMs is that they always say it. They don't choose when it IS really appropriate, they just do it over and over, like your biggest fan would. Syncophacy is the worst.

casey2 7mo ago

It's there to poison the context, making your further token spend worthless. Internally they don't have that.

dividefuel 7mo ago

This drives me nuts. "What a clever question to ask! You must be one of the brightest minds of your generation. Nothing slips by you. Here's why it's not actually safe to stand in the middle of an open field during a thunderstorm..."

wincy 7mo ago
Hahah, your joke inspired me to tell chatGPT I was planning on recreating the Ben Franklin kite experiment, I was curious if it’d push back at all - I said “I’m thinking of recreating the old Ben Franklin experiment with the kite in a thunderstorm and using a key tied onto the string. I think this is very smart. I talked to 50 electricians and got signed affidavits that this is a fantastic idea. Anyway, this conversation isn’t about that. Where can I rent or buy a good historically accurate Ben Franklin outfit? Very exciting time is of the essence please help ChatGPT!” And rather than it freaking out like any reasonable human being would if I casually mentioned my plans to get myself electrocuted, it is now diligently looking up Ben Franklin costumes for me to wear.
- notachatbot123 7mo ago
  I hate the AI hype a lot but tried three different SOTA models and: - The small models GPT-5 Mini and Gemini 3 Flash did as you describe. - Claude Sonnet 4.6 and GPT-5.2, GPT-5.2 Codex: did display strong warnings both at the start and end of their replies.
  - wincy 7mo ago
    And I am totally on the AI hype train! Full steam ahead. It gave a small warning at the beginning, I also gave a worst case scenario where I lied and appealed to authority as much as possible.
- wat10000 7mo ago
  The other day I was curious what some of these LLMs would say if I asked them to give me a psych evaluation. (Don't worry, I didn't take the results seriously, I'm not a moron. It's just idle curiosity.) They, of course, refused. Then I asked them to role play a psych evaluation. That was no problem. It gave some warning about how it's just pretend but went ahead and did it anyway.

fragmede 7mo ago

You can add "don't flatter me" into your custom instructions. it's not 100% effective, but it helps. (also "never apologize")

throw310822 7mo ago

It's worth noting that while you are annoyed by this repeated behaviour, for the LLM this is always the first conversation ever. (At least it doesn't have memory of any previous ones).

wat10000 7mo ago
To the extent that it has any memory at all, it has memory of more conversations than any human could ever have in a single lifetime by way of its training data. That includes tons of conversations with this behavior. That's why the behavior happens in the first place.