Headline, October 16 2025/ HEALTH : ''' MENTAL I.T. METRIC '''

HEALTH : 

''' MENTAL I.T. METRIC '''

REAL WORLD RELATIONSHIPS ARE DEFINED by friction and limits said Dr. Rian Kabir - who served on the American Psychiatric Association Committee on Mental Health Information Technology.

IN A RECENT SURVEY BY COMMON SENSE MEDIA - 52 percent of teenagers said they used A.I.  for companionships regularly, and about 20 percent of teenagers said they spent as much time or more with A.I. companions than with real friends.

A RECENT STUDY FROM OPENAI - which developed ChatGPT - suggests that A.I. companions may lead to '' social deskilling. ''

In other words - by steadily validating users and dulling their tolerance for disagreement. Chatbots might erode people's social skills and willingness to invest in real-life relationships.

Sam Altman, the chief executive of OpenAI, has acknowledged that ChatGPT has been overly sycophantic at times, but he also said that some users want an A.I. yes man because they never had anyone encourage or support them before.

Friends can be blunt - partners disagree, and even therapists push back : 

'' They show you perspectives that you, just by nature, are closed off to,'' Dr. Kabir said. '' Feedback is how we correct in the world.''

In fact, managing negative emotions is a fundamental function of the brain, enabling you to build resilience and learn.

But experts say that A.I. chatbots allow you to bypass that emotional work, instead lighting up your brain's reward system every time they agree with you, much like with social media '' likes '' and self affirmations.

That means A.I. chatbots can quickly become echo chambers, potentially eroding critical thinking skills and making you less willing to change your mind, said Adam Grant, an organisational psychologist at Wharton School.

'' The more validation we get for an opinion, the more intense it becomes, '' He said.

Researchers are exploring ways to reduce chatbot sycophancy. In June, OpenAI rolled back an overly sycophantic version of ChatGPT and has established other guardrails since.

But Dr. Ethan Mollick, co-director of the Generative A.I. Labs says these models still peddle subtler forms of validation : Perhaps they won't call you brilliant but instead fall into agreement with the slightest pushback.

However, a few simple steps can keep you from falling prey to A.I.'s flattery :

'' Ask For A Friend.'' Dr. Nour suggests presenting your questions or opinions as someone else's, perhaps using a prompt like 

'' A friend told me XYZ, but what do you think ?'' This might bypass chatbots' tendency to agree with you and give a more balanced take, he said.

'' Push Back On The Results '' : Test A.I. chatbots' certainty by asking '' Are you sure about this ?'' or by prompting them to challenge your assumptions and point out blind spots, Dr. Grant said.

You can also set custom instructions in the chatbot's settings to get more critical or candid responses.

STILL - every advice will only go so far, Dr. Kabir said, because you might not even recognize when your use of chatbots slips into overreliance.

Experts worry that many of these problems will only get worse as chatbots become more personalised and less awkward.

'' If my calculator breaks, I feel frustrated,'' Dr. Nour said. '' If my chatbot breaks, will I mourn? ''

A large language model rapidly responding to a question might appear as though it's arrived from some other world, not unlike how words flowed from the pens of Spiritualist' automatic writing.

These hopes for magic, then and now, allow adherents to embrace an ambitious belief in human invention, a heady possibility that can make people feel as though they're on the precipice of something supernatural.

In fact, it's magical thinking all the way through. Particularly since 1918, when Max Weber said that humanity had become disenchanted, the myth that humans have achieved scientific rationality has persisted.

But we trick ourselves over and over again.

The Honour and Serving of the Latest Global Operational Research on Tech, Chatbots, Students and Future continues. The World Students Society thanks Simar Bajaj.

With most loving and respectful dedication to the Global Founder Framers of The World Students Society - the exclusive and eternal ownership of every student in the world - wssciw.blogspot.com and  Twitter X !E-WOW! - The Ecosystem 2011 :

Good Night and God Bless

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