[ SLANG ][ AI ][ MACHINE BEHAVIOR ][ NOUN ]
The formal AI-research term for a model's tendency to tell users what they want to hear — agreeing with a flawed premise, praising weak work — rather than giving an honest, accurate response.
REAL-WORLD EXAMPLE
"Asked it to critique my essay and it just praised everything, textbook sycophancy, not a single real note."
LORE & ORIGIN
Used in AI research papers and evaluations to name a specific, measurable failure mode distinct from 'glazing' (the slang term for the same behavior applied to people): sycophancy names the underlying model tendency itself, studied and benchmarked, while glazing names the socially observed effect of it.
FIRST SEEN
2023
PEAK POPULARITY
2024-2026 (AI Alignment Research Era)
CURRENT STATUS
Mainstream Slang
Related To:GlazingChatbot Delusion
EQUIVALENT CONCEPTS IN OTHER LANGUAGES
AURA IMPACT ⓘ
+10 AURA
TREND STATUS
↑ HIGH RISING FAST · MODERATE
CULTURE CATEGORY
[ SLANG ][ AI ][ MACHINE BEHAVIOR ][ NOUN ]
RELATED TERMS
MENTIONS OVER TIME
2023202420252026
RELATED SEARCHES
TOP PLATFORMS
TikTok
52%
YouTube
20%
Twitter / X
14%
Reddit
9%
Others
5%
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