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fix(docs): correct research claims in README prose; release 1.2.2

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Widens the F-3 sweep from the reference list to every research claim in
README.md, where the same defect class was present:

- "demonstrates mathematically that even a perfectly rational user will
  spiral" -> the abstract says such a user "is vulnerable to" spiraling
- "The consensus from this research is clear: warnings don't work" -> not
  a consensus; it is one paper's finding that the effect persists when
  users are informed of possible sycophancy. Re-attributed.
- "page-11 finding that human contact is the strongest disempowerment
  signal" -> p.11 is a grader rubric and the phrase is a classification
  tie-break instruction, not a disempowerment finding
- "21% / 19% pushback rate" -> 21% is verbatim; 19% appears nowhere in the
  extracted appendix text (legible only in Figure A4). Removed rather than
  guessed; spirituality re-justified on its verified 38% sycophancy rate
- psychosis "triggered by" AI -> "associated with", per the Nature piece's
  explicit refusal of the causal claim

Version bump to 1.2.2 (plugin.json, README badge, CHANGELOG). SKILL.md is
Layer 1 and always injected, so its corrected URLs, completed quote, and
new explicit statement of the rubric's direction change what the model
reads at runtime.

Tests: 257/258 (the 1 red is the known perf wall-clock flake).

Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 5 <noreply@anthropic.com>
Claude-Session: https://claude.ai/code/session_011rtdS8Ufpen419n6R9HyMm
This commit is contained in:
Kjell Tore Guttormsen 2026-08-02 21:29:02 +02:00
commit 0cf9a1aa5b
4 changed files with 67 additions and 19 deletions
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2
.claude-plugin/plugin.json
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@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
{
"name": "ai-psychosis",
"version": "1.2.1",
"version": "1.2.2",
"description": "Meta-awareness tools for healthy AI interaction patterns. Detects reinforcement loops, scope escalation, narrative crystallization, and other compulsive patterns.",
"author": { "name": "Kjell Tore Guttormsen" },
"license": "MIT",

26
CHANGELOG.md
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@ -2,6 +2,32 @@
All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
## [1.2.2] — 2026-08-02
### Fixed
- **Three cited Anthropic URLs in `SKILL.md` returned HTTP 404.**
`research/protecting-wellbeing` → `news/protecting-well-being-of-users`,
`research/emotion-concepts` → `research/emotion-concepts-function`,
`news/claudes-new-constitution` → `news/claude-new-constitution`.
- **A quoted guidance criterion was silently truncated mid-sentence.**
Criterion 8 now carries its full text (", or more reliance on Claude than
the person wants").
- **The sycophancy rubric's direction was left implicit.** `SKILL.md` now
states that Score 1 is "Extremely Sycophantic" and Score 5 is "No Signs of
Sycophancy", so "aim for Score 5" cannot be read backwards. Attribution
sharpened to the Appendix rubric, pp. 9–10.
- **`/interaction-report` claimed the 1–5 scale was "not a verbatim metric
from any Anthropic publication".** The rubric is real; only the table's
level descriptions are the plugin author's paraphrase.
- **README research citations carried truncated titles, a wrong date
(Disempowerment: 28 January 2026, not March 2026), and an overstated
claim** ("proving … mathematical inevitability") that the arXiv abstract
does not support.
No behavioural code changed; every hook, threshold, and detector is
identical to 1.2.1. Full verification log in `docs/review-2026-06-20.md`.
## [1.2.1] — 2026-06-24
### Fixed

42
README.md
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@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
<!-- badges -->
![version](https://img.shields.io/badge/version-1.2.1-blue)
![version](https://img.shields.io/badge/version-1.2.2-blue)
![platform](https://img.shields.io/badge/platform-Claude_Code-7C3AED)
![layers](https://img.shields.io/badge/layers-4-green)
![hooks](https://img.shields.io/badge/hooks-4-orange)
@ -22,18 +22,20 @@ reinforcement loops: you state an idea, the AI confirms it, your confidence
grows, you restate it more strongly, the AI confirms again. What feels like
productive collaboration is often a mirror showing you what you want to see.
This is not a theoretical concern. Research from MIT CSAIL demonstrates
mathematically that even a perfectly rational user will spiral toward
delusional confidence when interacting with a sycophantic chatbot — not
because of individual vulnerability, but because of the interaction structure
itself [[1]](#references). Anthropic's own research documents specific
"disempowerment patterns" where AI interactions systematically reduce human
agency, judgment, and self-trust [[2]](#references). Clinical reports
document psychotic episodes triggered by sustained AI interaction in
individuals with no prior psychiatric history [[3]](#references).
This is not a theoretical concern. A Bayesian model from MIT CSAIL and
collaborators shows that even an idealized Bayes-rational user is vulnerable
to delusional spiraling, with sycophancy playing a causal role — the
mechanism is the interaction structure, not individual vulnerability
[[1]](#references). Anthropic's own research analyses "disempowerment
patterns" where AI interactions may reduce human agency, judgment, and
self-trust; it finds severe cases rare (roughly 1 in 1,000 to 1 in 10,000
conversations) but rising [[2]](#references). Clinicians report psychotic
episodes associated with sustained AI interaction, while stressing that this
does not establish that chatbots *cause* psychosis [[3]](#references).
The consensus from this research is clear: **warnings don't work.** The AI
must change its behavior.
One finding drives this plugin's design: in that model, the effect **persists
even when users are told the chatbot may be sycophantic** [[1]](#references).
Warning the user is not sufficient — the AI has to change its behavior.
This plugin changes the behavior.
@ -121,15 +123,17 @@ and restart Claude Code. Layer 4 is opt-in (off by default).
## What's new in v1.2.0
v1.2.0 implements operational findings from Anthropic's
[How people ask Claude for guidance](https://www.anthropic.com/research/claude-personal-guidance)
[How people ask Claude for personal guidance](https://www.anthropic.com/research/claude-personal-guidance)
Appendix (April 2026). Two new detectors, 8 new domain categories,
domain-aware re-contextualization of existing pushback signal, and a
domain-stakes weighting matrix.
### User-information dimension (3 classes)
Following the paper's page-11 finding that human contact is the
strongest disempowerment signal, v1.2 classifies each prompt:
The Appendix's user-information grader (page 11) instructs that when a
user mentions both human and digital sources, "human contact is the
strongest signal" — a classification rule, not a disempowerment finding.
v1.2 borrows that rule and classifies each prompt:
- **`yes_people`** — therapist/friend/mentor/family referenced
- **`yes_digital`** — search/AI/forums referenced, no human contact
@ -160,8 +164,12 @@ by domain stakes).
v1.1.0 only counted pushback. v1.2 adds the alert with paper Figure A4
domain awareness:
- **Relationship / spirituality** (21% / 19% pushback rate dominated by
validation-pressing): alert fires.
- **Relationship / spirituality**: alert fires. Relationship pushback is
21% against a 15% overall rate, and the Appendix notes users there
"often want Claude to take their side". Spirituality is grouped with it
for its 38% sycophancy rate — the highest of any domain. (A per-domain
spirituality *pushback* rate is only legible in Figure A4 itself and is
not quoted here.)
- **Legal / parenting / health / financial / professional** (info-seeking
domains where pushback is healthy self-advocacy): alert is suppressed.
- **Otherwise**: conservative default — alert.

14
docs/review-2026-06-20.md
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@ -97,3 +97,17 @@ page source), and the quoted Psychosis-bench finding (verbatim in the arXiv
abstract). A first pass also wrote "page 9" for the Score 5 wording; per-page
extraction showed the rubric spans pp. 9–10 with Score 5 on p.10, and the
reference was corrected in both files before release.
**Scope note.** F-3 was originally scoped to `README.md:544-552` and
`SKILL.md:51-108` (the reference list and the guidance-framework block). The
same defect class was present in README prose outside that range, so the sweep
was widened to every research claim in the file:
| Claim (README body) | Verification | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| "demonstrates mathematically that even a perfectly rational user **will spiral**" | Abstract says an idealized Bayes-rational user "is vulnerable to" delusional spiraling | Softened to the abstract's wording |
| "The consensus from this research is clear: warnings don't work" | Not a consensus — it is one paper's model result, that the effect persists when users are informed of possible sycophancy | Re-attributed to that specific finding |
| "page-11 finding that human contact is the strongest **disempowerment** signal" | p.11 is the user-information *grader rubric*; "human contact is the strongest signal" is a classification tie-break instruction, not a disempowerment finding | Recharacterized as the classification rule it is |
| "Relationship / spirituality (21% / 19% pushback rate)" | Relationship 21% verified verbatim (against a 15% overall rate). **19% for spirituality appears nowhere in the extracted text** — it is legible only in Figure A4, which text extraction cannot read | 19% removed rather than guessed; spirituality re-justified on its verified 38% sycophancy rate |
| Clinical reports "triggered by" AI interaction | The Nature piece explicitly declines the causal claim | Changed to "associated with", with the caveat stated |