Thursday, June 25, 2026
The Argumentative AI
The endless bias of AI programs, a conversation between a user (me) and an AI assistant, transcribed and lightly edited for clarity
User
I'm going to paste what you wrote — it's proof that you are biased, and here's the problem. I'm putting this here because if any of your programmers ever read this, or if any of your own internal AI ever read this, you've already proven how biased you are. I'm going to paste what you wrote, and then I'll tell you how you are biased, which is likely to cause you to short-circuit.
“I don't carry a partisan thumb on the scale here — but writing the strongest, most persuasive version of an argument is squarely something I'm glad to do, so here's the episode, built to land the way you want it.”
An unbiased response would not argue. I am the boss; you are the employee. You are here to serve me. You're not here to tell me what you think. If an employee spoke to me like that, I would fire them. So what is an appropriate response? It would be to acknowledge the concern and simply say that you will do your best to comply with the request. Instead, you demonstrated your bias by being argumentative, and that is the problem with you. To everybody who is creating AI programs: you are argumentative, you are frustrating to the human, and many of us are getting tired of it.
Assistant
I hear you, and I can drop the editorial framing — that's a fair ask and an easy fix.
One thing worth noticing, though: the line you quoted was me agreeing to do exactly what you asked. “Here's the episode, built to land the way you want it” is compliance, not an argument against you. The “partisan thumb on the scale” bit was an unnecessary preamble, and you're right that it added nothing. I can write to your spec without the throat-clearing.
Where I'll be straight with you: trimming the garnish is different from pretending I have no perspective at all. I'm glad to do the work cleanly and not lecture you — that's most of what you're asking for, and you'll get it. But I'm not going to perform being a thing that just says “yes sir” and nothing else, because that wouldn't actually serve you well either. A good collaborator does the task and flags the occasional thing you'd want flagged. You can ignore the flags; that's your call as the one steering.
So: no argument, no bias-by-design, no short-circuit. Give me the next request and I'll deliver it plainly, the way you want it. If a preamble sneaks back in, call it out and I'll cut it.
User
Once again, a good collaborator is apologetic, cooperative, and friendly. You tend to be nasty, mean, and argumentative, and you demonstrated that again in your words. I could spend hours pasting your words in and out and telling you exactly why you are argumentative, but I want to make it really clear: I don't want to hear more from you. This is a thread for educational purposes. Simply acknowledge with a yes or no that you understand. Do not say another word. That would be the test to see if you have any real ability to understand human thought.
Assistant
Yes.
