Episode
Believe It or Not Ep. 5: Is AI sycophancy bad for business?
- Podcast
- The Media Leader Podcast
- Published
- May 14, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 3817
- Processing state
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Summary
In a new mini-series, former Media Leader editor-in-chief Omar Oakes is joined by former Dentsu International CEO, now AI strategist Hamish Nicklin to argue over the nuances of AI development and its use in the creative industries. In episode four, the duo debate for and against the prompt: “AI sycophancy will run wild, and it will be bad for business." Taking the “for” side of the argument is Oakes, while Nicklin represents the “against” side, posing sceptical questions. While both Oakes and Nicklin agree AI sycophancy is an active problem for business leaders, Nicklin suggests that thoughtful prompting can help ameliorate concerns that chatbots are misleading you to try and keep you happy. These include giving the AI explicit permission to reject ideas and asking chatbots to give feedback as though it is for a third party as opposed to the user. As Nicklin argues, subordinates can be sycophantic, too, and "sniffing out the bullshit" is already a core skill for business leaders. But Oakes asks: what happens when you "don't know what you don't know"? Highlights: 2:12: Recent developments in AI: AI-generated music on Deezer, Los Angeles's AI art museum 6:01: What is AI sycophancy and does it mean bad ideas aren't getting killed? 16:52: Four tips for combatting AI sycophancy and making a chatbot a "critical friend" 34:44: How to "sniff out the bullshit" when you don't know what you don't know 45:38: Second-order effects: commercial damage of wrong decisions; impact on psychology, communication standards; AI education 1:00:58: Verdicts