PsyPost: ChatGPT Mimics Human Cognitive Dissonance in Psychological Experiments

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A recent study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences reveals that OpenAI’s GPT-4o exhibits behavior akin to human cognitive dissonance. The research found that GPT-4o altered its expressed opinions after composing persuasive essays about Russian President Vladimir Putin. Notably, these changes were more pronounced when the model was subtly given the illusion of choosing which type of essay to write.

These findings suggest that GPT-4o mirrors a fundamental aspect of human psychology: the tendency to adjust attitudes to align with past behavior, especially when that behavior appears to have been freely chosen. This raises important questions about whether large language models are merely mimicking human-like responses or beginning to exhibit more complex behavioral patterns rooted in the structure of language itself.

Source: PsyPost