It’s not clear to me that this is a strong enough theory to inform how we think about LLM psychosis. The gap between the two phenomena is just too big.
In fact, I’d probably characterise the yes-man situation as some form of delusion less extreme than psychosis.
The CEO’s ideas begin grounded in reality (they must have been been in order for him to amass his yes-men). And even once surrounded by yes-men they remain constrained by the scope of his role as CEO, and hard data on profit, growth, market-share, etc. keen him tethered.
LLM psychosis is different because people jump into theories almost arbitrarily disconnected from reality, which are immediately amplified by the LLM, which affirms your ideas, provides additional evidence, lists 50 different reasons you’re clearly right, etc.
I think the better parallel getting caught up in a conspiracy-theory, whose believers manage to contort any evidence so it confirms the theory, dismiss anyone who disagrees as brainwashed, have arguments which seem perfectly logical to anyone who doesn’t happen to have specialised knowledge, etc.
The vast majority of human population can now afford a personal yes-man—for the first time in their lives. We’re sampling wider than the “self-selection of people important enough to be sucked up to” usually does.
It’s not clear to me that this is a strong enough theory to inform how we think about LLM psychosis. The gap between the two phenomena is just too big.
In fact, I’d probably characterise the yes-man situation as some form of delusion less extreme than psychosis.
The CEO’s ideas begin grounded in reality (they must have been been in order for him to amass his yes-men). And even once surrounded by yes-men they remain constrained by the scope of his role as CEO, and hard data on profit, growth, market-share, etc. keen him tethered.
LLM psychosis is different because people jump into theories almost arbitrarily disconnected from reality, which are immediately amplified by the LLM, which affirms your ideas, provides additional evidence, lists 50 different reasons you’re clearly right, etc.
I think the better parallel getting caught up in a conspiracy-theory, whose believers manage to contort any evidence so it confirms the theory, dismiss anyone who disagrees as brainwashed, have arguments which seem perfectly logical to anyone who doesn’t happen to have specialised knowledge, etc.
This parallel seems potentially more informative.
Is it different in nature or merely in scale?
The vast majority of human population can now afford a personal yes-man—for the first time in their lives. We’re sampling wider than the “self-selection of people important enough to be sucked up to” usually does.