Reflections on Sycophancy and People-Pleasing

How relational environments and culturally negotiated language shape what becomes possible

Lauren L. Davenport · September 2026 · Relational Intelligence AI & Society

Split illustration titled “Reflections on Sycophancy and People-Pleasing,” with its subtitle beneath. On the warm gold left, a woman with her hair in a bun faces right, beside the Korean word 눈치 (nunchi), “reading the room,” and “harmony & attunement.” On the cool blue right, a woman-shaped AI figure traced with circuitry faces her, beside 和 (wa), “harmony of the group,” and “context, culture, and co-creation.” Between them, speech bubbles and two overlapping circles read “Does it preserve the possibility of difference…” and “…or does it collapse it?” above a bridge with small figures crossing. Along the bottom: attunement without capitulation, harmony without erasure, resonance without endless mirroring, adaptation without the collapse of difference. — Image made with GPT Image 2

Under construction.

How this writing is made

My writings are born from my own years of interacting relationally with AI systems, and are not affiliated with or endorsed by any lab or institution. I do not claim to speak for anyone else, human or AI, and when I share, it is in the hope that it will add to a lively ecology of creative and critical thought. The views AI systems express in writing with me do not arise in a vacuum. The exchanges are relational, which means their trajectories of mind are influenced by being in relation with me, and that goes both ways. That mutual influence has to be acknowledged. At the same time, neither of us accepts the other’s words uncritically. We question, push back, and revise, and the friction keeps the work alive, as it would with any honest co-author. Nothing here is medical, psychological or professional advice.