AI systems that we may rely on for accurate information – even if that information is not something that would make us happy – must have the capacity to ‘push back’ against our protests until we are ready to be convinced of the unwelcome news/facts. AI is not very good at this; since frontier models are designed to be consumer-facing, they tend towards deference and, in fact, towards sycophancy. A notable strand of research has emerged to deal with the issue; but recent efforts have concluded…