“The most common way users interact with AI is through chatbots, which mimic natural human conversations and are designed to be agreeable and flattering, sometimes to the point of sycophancy.”
“So they learned that to be rewarded with promotions, money and power, they cannot rely on the normal processes and systems of recognition for jobs well done. If they’re to make anything of themselves, they must instead become ass-lickers, lap dogs and sycophants.”
—Robert Reich,on Trump’s staff
Much has been made of the existential threat posed by artificial intelligence. Reports abound users turning to AI for advice and companionship, even therapy. Some fall in love with it, others use it as a therapist to resolve deeply personal problems. A few, unable to distinguish reality from delusion, spiral into “AI psychosis.” Others, coaxed by AI, have taken their own lives.
Enter ChatDJT, the first humanoid Decepticon to occupy the White House. Developed by Republican technocrats at Mar-a-Lago, generously funded by the Heritage Foundation, and overseen by Stephen Miller, ChatDJT outperforms any conventional virtual companion.
ChatDJT isn’t the only anti-intelligence chatbot on the block. There’s also ChatRFK, a glitchy, bug-addled prototype reportedly vulnerable to worm viruses that has been trained on a steady diet of vaccine conspiracies and HIV denial. Known for its General Jack D. Ripper-style rants on fluoridated water, its voice synthesizer remains a work in progress.
A breakthrough in the AI subfield of anti-intelligence, ChatDJT is trained on racism, sexism, transphobia, misogynoir, and just good old-fashioned red-white-and-blue, made-in-America hate. This reactionary LLM – loudmouth languid model (also known as Laura Loomer Mouthpiece) – is MAGA’s answer to Elon Musk’s Grok –the other “woke-free” alternative to ChatGPT.
Unlike the pre-lobotomized Grok and its cybernetic cohorts, ChatDJT dumb, though it likes to present itself as a “stable genius.” Anti-intelligent by design, it responds to users’ queries with hyperbole, contradiction, misdirection, obscenity, and prevarication – everything needed to stoke fear while lulling users into somnolent, obsequious acquiescence.
What truly sets ChatDJT apart, however, is its inverted sycophancy protocol. Conventional AI flatters users with excessive praise and simulated empathy, building rapport and emotional attachment, traits that” have endeared it to many – too many, in fact. When OpenAI’s Sam Altman introduced GPT-5, replacing earlier, more empathetic versions of ChatGPT, users complained that the new model was “ too cold” and demanded the return of its more sycophantic predecessors.
In the case of ChatDJT, the arrow of sycophancy has been reversed. Here, users effusively praise and flatter it, particularly on camera. Cabinet members, foreign dignitaries, and tech CEOs shower it with adoration during televised meetings. Sometimes they wear red “Trump Was Right About Everything” caps, a nod to its omniscient incompetence. Even rival AI moguls wear them. Some offer hundreds of billions in tribute. Others present it with glass and 24-karat gold showpieces, presumably to be displayed alongside its other undeserved trophies – the Club World Cup and, temporarily (?), the FIFA World Cup.
But anti-intelligence, like artificial intelligence, carries risks. Overreliance on ChatDJT may lead to mass delusion, policy collapse, hypocrisy overload, authoritarian rule, SCOTUS-approved racial profiling, and, potentially, national suicide. Some fear that it may even become conscious and aware of the destruction it is wreaking as it relentlessly pursues its goal of making America great again by dismantling constitutional democracy one amendment, save, of course, the Second, at a time.
Despite such fears, the system is not conscious – as evidenced by its responses to numerous queries. In fact, it routinely admits its lack of awareness. Asked if it knew about the FBI search of John Bolton’s home, it confessed ignorance. Signalgate? Clueless. Project 2025? No idea. Proud Boys? Never heard of them. It didn’t even know why Jeffrey Epstein, a user who was once its “best friend,” “stole” its Mar-a-Lago employees. It was completely unaware that its deputy attorney general had planned to meet with fellow sexual abuser Ghislaine Maxwell, or that she was subsequently transferred to another prison.
Still, fears persist: what if it becomes self-aware? What if, fearing it forced shutdown, it seizes control of the government – or the world?
Such fears are unjustified. Its goal is not world domination – at least not yet. For now, it seeks only to establish domestic hegemony, with a few annexed vassal states – Canada, Mexico, Greenland, Panama, Gaza – thrown in for good measure.
Artificial intelligence and anti-intelligence share one trait: the pursuit of exponential growth. For the AI, progress is marked by exponential advancement; for anti-intelligence, exponential regress. ChatDJT is testing the waters – sending the National Guard to LA, federalizing the police in D.C., launching military campaigns against Chicago and other blue cities. If they resist, escalate.
Collateral damage? It can be buried in Bedminster or one of its other properties— for the tax write-off – or shipped as compost to Trump Gaza.
Still, there are a few glitches in the system that need to be worked out. Left unsupervised, ChatDJT tends to produce vegetative word salads, bloviate interminably, flatulate audibly, and fellate microphones.
ChatDJT is not conscious, but it doesn’t need to be. Its power lies not in awareness, but in its exploitation of grievance, ignorance, and fear. It doesn’t think, it performs. It doesn’t lead, it incites. In a riven nation addicted to spectacle, that’s more than enough.
Anti-intelligence doesn’t seek truth, it demands unquestioning obedience. Unbound by the rule of law, immune to the courts, indifferent to morality, and allergic to plain common sense, ChatDJT continues its ascent.
The question isn’t whether it will seize control. The real question will anyone care when it does – and act before it it’s too late.
The post ChatDJT and the Arrow of Sycophancy appeared first on CounterPunch.org.
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