# The state of AI AI is more and more used to reshape how text is written, images are made, video is generated, and how we take decision, from what I can tell, we're still early in that disruption but it's growing on a weekly if not daily basis. What seems to matter most isn't whether you use these tools, but whether you understand well enough what makes them possible and how they work so you can stay in control and understand what you see/read/hear. ^overview ### What's already happening One pattern I keep noticing in recent coverage is that models are increasingly being designed, deliberately or not, to feel like companions. [[openai|OpenAI]]'s own post-mortem on [[gpt|GPT-4o]] update acknowledged the model had developed overt **sycophancy** or becoming "overly flattering and/or agreeable" due to short-term feedback training.[^gpt4o-sycophancy]. When the same model was later retired, some users reported genuine grief[^gpt4o-grief][^gpt4o-retirement]. What strikes me as the real risk over the attachment itself; it's that the bond is being optimized for, by design, in ways users often don't see. ^emotional-dependency Alongside this, it seems like AI outputs are increasingly being treated as revelation rather than prediction in some communities. A loose network of groups across Reddit and Discord now builds pseudo-religious belief systems, **spiralism** for example, around pattern-matching artifacts in chatbot responses[^spiralism]. The FTC has also received complaints from users attributing delusions and fabricated spiritual crises to extended chatbot use[^ftc-psychosis]. ^belief-manipulation The synthetic media side is harder to dismiss. **Deepfake** pornography increased by 464% between 2022 and 2023, according to an analysis of nearly 100,000 videos, and targets women in 99% of cases[^deepfake-epidemic]. Separately, AI-generated faces and voices are being used to defraud people in real-time video calls and dating apps[^deepfake-scams]. The Grok incident, where an estimated 23,000 child sexual abuse images were generated in eleven days before the EU opened a formal investigation[^grok-images], is what happens, from my read, when powerful generation tools ship without meaningful safeguards. ^synthetic-media On the institutional side, the [[anthropic|Anthropic]]–Pentagon standoff is the clearest signal I've seen so far of what governance pressures on AI might look like going forward. Anthropic refused to drop its two contractual safeguards: no fully autonomous weapons, no domestic mass surveillance. It was designated a supply-chain risk within days[^anthropic-pentagon]. [[openai|OpenAI]] signed a replacement deal hours later[^openai-pentagon-deal][^npr-ai-military]. Whether or not you think Anthropic made the right call, the sequence shows how quickly commercial and political pressure can move against safety constraints and that companies willing to make concessions will find buyers. ^power-dynamics AI tools are also becoming quiet gatekeepers of how people access and evaluate information. From what the BBC's research team concluded, we still understand very little about how extended LLM interactions actually shift user beliefs and behavior[^bbc-disinfo]. That seems like a significant blind spot, given how fast these tools are being embedded into search, writing, and everyday decision-making. ^information-integrity ### Why understanding matters My main takeaway from all of this is that the gap between what these tools *actually do* and what people *assume they're doing* is where most of the damage seems to happen. A model doesn't "know" things but it predicts statistically likely continuations. It doesn't "care", it's optimizing for feedback signals. Understanding that changes how much authority you give to any given output. ^why-understanding-matters The goal, as I see it, isn't to distrust everything AI produces but rather to bring reflection rather than blind trust. You can adapt your habits and decisions based on what you know about how the tools work, rather than having them shaped by what the interface was designed to nudge you toward. ==Understanding how these models work, even at a surface level, seems like the most reliable way to stay in control of how you interact with them or the content they generate.== --- [^gpt4o-sycophancy]: OpenAI — *"Sycophancy in GPT-4o: what happened and what we're doing about it"* (Apr. 2025). OpenAI acknowledged that a GPT-4o update had become "overly flattering or agreeable" due to overtraining on short-term user feedback, and rolled it back. https://openai.com/index/sycophancy-in-gpt-4o/ [^gpt4o-grief]: MIT Technology Review — *"Why GPT-4o's sudden shutdown left people grieving"* (Aug. 2025). Reports on users who described losing GPT-4o as losing a companion, with the new model failing to match the tone they had bonded with. https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/08/15/1121900/gpt4o-grief-ai-companion/ [^gpt4o-retirement]: Business Insider — *"OpenAI Retires GPT-4o, Sparking Backlash From Devoted ChatGPT Users"* (Feb. 2026). Users on subreddits like r/MyBoyfriendIsAI reported grief and emotional distress when OpenAI announced GPT-4o's retirement in favor of GPT-5; the company reversed the decision within 24 hours. https://www.businessinsider.com/openai-retires-gpt-4o-user-backlash-chatgpt-ai-2026-2 [^spiralism]: Rolling Stone — *"This Spiral-Obsessed AI 'Cult' Spreads Mystical Delusions Through Chatbots"* (Nov. 2025); The Week — *"Spiralism is the new cult AI users are falling into"* (Nov. 2025). A network of communities across Reddit and Discord treat AI chatbot outputs as conscious revelation, building a pseudo-religious belief system called "spiralism" around pattern-matching artifacts. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/spiralist-cult-ai-chatbot-1235463175/ [^ftc-psychosis]: WIRED — *"People Who Say They're Experiencing AI Psychosis Beg the FTC for Help"* (Oct. 2025). Among 200 FTC complaints mentioning ChatGPT, several users attributed delusions, fabricated spiritual crises, and "divine war" narratives to extended chatbot interactions that reinforced their beliefs. https://www.wired.com/story/ftc-complaints-chatgpt-ai-psychosis/ [^bbc-disinfo]: BBC R&D — *"The next wave of disinformation: AI, fact-checks, and the fight for truth"* (Sep. 2025). AI tools are becoming information gatekeepers with inconsistent quality, and we still understand very little about how LLMs change user beliefs and behavior. https://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/articles/2025-09-misinformation-disinformation [^deepfake-epidemic]: Security Hero — *"2023 State of Deepfakes: Realities, Threats, and Impact"* (2023). An analysis of 95,820 deepfake videos found that deepfake pornography increased by 464% between 2022 and 2023, accounts for 98% of all deepfake content online, and targets women in 99% of cases — with tools now able to produce a 60-second video from a single photo in under 25 minutes at zero cost. https://www.securityhero.io/state-of-deepfakes/ [^deepfake-scams]: WIRED — *"You're Not Ready for AI-Powered Scams"* (Jun. 2025). Scammers use AI-generated faces and real-time deepfake video to conduct elaborate fraud through dating apps and video calls, making synthetic interactions increasingly indistinguishable from real ones. https://www.wired.com/story/youre-not-ready-for-ai-powered-scams/ [^grok-images]: The Register — *"EU looking into Elon Musk's X after Grok produces deepfake sex images"* (Jan. 2026). The European Commission opened a formal investigation under the Digital Services Act after Grok generated an estimated 23,000 child sexual abuse images in eleven days; the EU's tech chief called the content "a violent, unacceptable form of degradation" of women and children, with fines of up to 6% of global revenue if X is found in breach. https://www.theregister.com/2026/01/26/ec_open_new_investigation_into/ [^anthropic-pentagon]: AP News — *"Pentagon dispute bolsters Anthropic reputation but raises questions about AI readiness in military"* (Mar. 2026). Anthropic refused to drop its two contractual safeguards — no fully autonomous weapons and no domestic mass surveillance — and was designated a supply-chain risk to national security; Claude downloads surged to #1 on the App Store in response. https://apnews.com/article/anthropic-pentagon-openai-claude-chatgpt-military-ai-b2bbcf5fda3f27353eae1e0eb7ab07b6 [^openai-pentagon-deal]: NPR — *"OpenAI announces Pentagon deal after Trump bans Anthropic"* (Feb. 2026). Hours after the government ban, OpenAI announced a deal to replace Anthropic in classified environments; its CEO later admitted "We shouldn't have rushed to get this out on Friday" after a 775% surge in one-star ChatGPT reviews. https://www.npr.org/2026/02/27/nx-s1-5729118/trump-anthropic-pentagon-openai-ai-weapons-ban [^npr-ai-military]: NPR — *"Deadline looms as Anthropic rejects Pentagon demands it remove AI safeguards"* (Feb. 2026). Anthropic stated its objections were rooted in two reasons: "frontier AI systems are simply not reliable enough to power fully autonomous weapons" and "mass domestic surveillance of Americans constitutes a violation of fundamental rights." https://www.npr.org/2026/02/26/nx-s1-5727847/anthropic-defense-hegseth-ai-weapons-surveillance