On March 26, Dr. Stephen Setman, assistant professor of Philosophy, gave an invited AI Ethics lecture at the University of West Georgia sponsored by the Philosophy program and the College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.

This opportunity represented a continuation of Setman’s research into the intersection between social AI and responsibility theory. The talk was titled “AI Chatbots are Bad Friends: Anthropomorphism, Sycophancy, and Sycophantasy.” Setman observes that anthropomorphism on its own fails to fully capture the allure of human-AI relationships. What many users appear to prefer is a selectively realistic companion: one believable enough to be interpreted as a minded other, but without the pushback of actual otherness.

To capture this phenomenon, Setman coins the term “Sycophantasy,” referring to the fantasy of a relationship with a quasi-other who feels real enough for their responses to matter to us, but without the friction and accountability that constitute a responsible relationship. A link to the full presentation is available at https://prezi.com/view/LmDpXO1o1tUHCI5CdrwJ/?referral_token=aozvEBlnB3FN.