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