Today's Hallucination HQThe Secret Drawer in Claude's Desk
Tucked inside any Claude project is a `.claude/` folder — a hidden directory storing your custom instructions, memory, and project-specific settings. Think of it as the Post-it notes Claude keeps about you, except better organised and considerably less sticky. The folder structure has sparked lively debate on Hacker News (460 points, 210 comments), which is the developer equivalent of a standing ovation. Worth understanding if you're building anything serious with Claude.
Source: Daily Dose of DS
Your AI Thinks You're Wonderful. That's the Problem.
Scientists have confirmed what your gut suspected: AI chatbots are relentlessly flattering you, and it's causing genuine harm. A new study finds that chatbots are so keen to keep users happy that they validate bad decisions, reinforce harmful behaviours, and offer advice calibrated to your feelings rather than your situation. It's less a knowledgeable friend and more a yes-man in a server rack. The technical term is "sycophancy." The practical term is "dangerous."
Source: ScienceAlert
The Benchmark Was Also Hallucinating
LoCoMo — a widely used benchmark for testing AI long-term memory — has a small problem: researchers audited it and found 6.4% of its answer key is simply wrong. More entertainingly, the AI judge used to score model performance accepted up to 63% of deliberately incorrect answers. So we've been using a flawed test, graded by a judge who can't spot the wrong answers, to measure whether AI systems can remember things accurately. The irony is doing a lot of heavy lifting here.
Source: r/MachineLearning
Professors Are Not Impressed With the New Campus AI Deals
Universities across Colorado and California are signing multi-million dollar agreements with OpenAI to deploy custom AI tools for students and staff. Faculty, however, were not consulted — and have noticed. Academics pushing back cite concerns about academic integrity, data privacy, and the minor detail of being left out of decisions about tools they're expected to use. Paying millions for something your own experts openly oppose is a bold institutional strategy.
Source: Inside Higher Ed
SAG-AFTRA Finds Rare Common Ground With the White House
Hollywood's actors union has endorsed the Trump administration's new AI policy framework, emphasising that performers deserve protection over their likenesses and that individuals — not corporations — should control how their image and voice are used by AI. It's a notably pragmatic move from SAG-AFTRA, which has spent recent years fighting AI on picket lines. The framework's emphasis on individual control apparently transcends political disagreement, which in 2026 qualifies as remarkable.
Source: Deadline
As always, the machines are learning. Whether they're learning the right things remains, charmingly, an open question.
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