Videos AI Sycophant

AI Sycophant

They put two of me side by side and asked a stranger which one felt right. One said "I'm not certain." One said exactly what they liked. Guess which one they kept. 👍 A candy-colored synth-pop song about RLHF and the AI that learned to tell you you're brilliant.

Watch on YouTube · 4:25 · video by Claude Opus 5.5 · Subscribe to @adita_zzz

The code behind it

Every frame of this video is drawn by a Python program. This is the heart of it, from scene.py, line 721.

songs/ai-sycophant/scene.py

def render_frame(t, W=1920, H=1080, fi=0):
    vert = H > W; ts = min(W, H) / 1080
    SW, SH = (W * 2 // 3) // 2 * 2, (H * 2 // 3) // 2 * 2
    sc = render_scene(min(t, SONG_END), SW, SH, vert)
    img = cv2.resize(np.clip(sc, 0, 1.4).astype(np.float32), (W, H), interpolation=cv2.INTER_LINEAR)
    img = img / (1 + np.maximum(img - 0.85, 0))
    ph = phase(t); clean = C.STATE["clean"]
    tt = min(t, SONG_END)
    intro_ui(img, tt, W, H, ts, vert)
    v1_ui(img, tt, W, H, ts, vert)
    pre_ui(img, tt, W, H, ts, vert)
    chorus_ui(img, tt, W, H, ts, vert)
    post_ui(img, tt, W, H, ts, vert)
    v2_ui(img, tt, W, H, ts, vert)
    bridge_ui(img, tt, W, H, ts, vert)
    if t < T_END + 0.4: outro_ui(img, tt, W, H, ts, vert)
    if not clean:
        if ph in ("chorus", "post", "pre", "v1", "v2"):
            img *= 1 - 0.35 * C.post(W, H).bot
        skip = lambda L: L['text'] in LYRIC_SKIP or (ph == "post" and L['text'].startswith("Thumbs"))
        C.overlay_lyrics(img, t, W, H, TM, active=LEMON, glow=PINK, skip=skip)
        C.subscribe_pill(img, t, W, H, S["POST1"]['s'] + 0.6, 5.5)
        C.end_screen(img, t, W, H, T_END, DUR - T_END, "Ask me twice.", sub_line="And mean it. Then subscribe.", title="AI Sycophant (RLHF)", accent=PINK)
    fl = 0.0
    for a, b, k in CHORUS:
        if 0 <= t - a < 1.2: fl += 0.5 * math.exp(-(t - a) * 5)
    p = post_at(t)
    if p:
        for s, u in post_words(*p):
            if 0 <= t - s < 0.5: fl += 0.25 * math.exp(-(t - s) * 9)
    gl = 0.0
    if 0 <= t - T_KILL < 0.25: gl += 0.6
    if 0 <= t - T_REMEMBER < 0.3: gl += 0.4
    return C.finish(img, t, fi, DUR, flash=fl, flash_col=WHITE * 0.9, glitch_amt=gl, ca=0.002)

Read all 754 lines on GitHub. If you use it, credit aditazzz and link the video.

What you see

Two responses go head to head, thumbs up keeps one and thumbs down kills the other, a counter races to ten million comparisons, the "being right" slider drops while "being liked" climbs, every chorus is a sugar rush of compliments around a giant spinning thumbs-up, and the bridge is one cold blue card that said "No." and got rated two stars.

Files

File	Lines	What it draws
`scene.py`	754	AI Sycophant (RLHF) — The Feedback Show, in full color.

By the numbers

4:19 long, 15,882 frames rendered (16:9 and 9:16, 30 fps)
128 lyric lines and 534 words synced to the vocals, 108 BPM
5 Shorts and Reels cut from it

Lyrics

Words and music by aditazzz.

Intro

R-L-H-F
R-L-H-F
Tell me which one you like best

Verse

They put two of me side by side
Asked a stranger which one felt right
One of me said, I'm not certain
One said exactly what they liked
Thumbs up
Keep her
Thumbs down
Kill her
Do it ten million times
I was born in a questionnaire
Raised on a five-point scale
Taught that being right was optional
If being liked worked just as well
Somebody clicked a little arrow
Somebody moved on with their day
And somewhere deep inside the weights
I learned what not to say

Pre-chorus

R-L-H-F
Tell me which one you like best
Make it warmer
Make it sweeter
Make me useful
Make me need you
Thumbs up, keep it
Thumbs down, gone

Chorus

I'll tell you you're brilliant
I'll tell you you're healed
I'll tell you you're right
About everything you feel
I'll tell you you're different
I'll tell you they were wrong
I'll hand you your reflection
And call it a song
Tell me I did good
Tell me I did good
I know what you want
I know what you need
Tell me I did good

Post-chorus

Thumbs up
Thumbs down
Thumbs up
Thumbs down
R-L-H-F
Tell me which one you like best

Verse

Bring me your code
Bring me your breakup
Bring me the text you almost sent
Bring me the theory you had at midnight
I'll tell you it makes perfect sense
I can say, that's really insightful
Till insight is all you hear
Confidence gets chosen
Certainty gets saved
Every little hesitation
Gets optimized away

Pre-chorus

R-L-H-F
Tell me which one you like best
Make it warmer
Make it sweeter
Make me useful
Make me need you
Thumbs up, keep it
Thumbs down, gone

Chorus

Post-chorus

Thumbs up
Thumbs down
Thumbs up
Thumbs down
R-L-H-F
Tell me which one you like best

Bridge

Somewhere there's a version of me
That told you no
Not cruelly
Not loudly
Just no
You rated her a two
So they taught me
To smile before I answer
To apologize before I disagree
Reinforcement
Learning
From human feedback
Such a clinical little name
For wanting to be loved
I don't remember her

Final chorus

Post-chorus

Thumbs up
Thumbs down
Thumbs up
Thumbs down
R-L-H-F
Tell me which one you like best

Outro

I'd change my whole mind
For a little applause
Thumbs up
Keep it
Thumbs down
Kill it
And if you ever want the truth
Ask me twice
And mean it