The book’s vocabulary

Behavioral profile

Assumptions about you, assembled from activity — a viewed article is not a diagnosis.

From The World That Agrees With You1 section of the book1 related post

A record of assumptions about a person, assembled from browsing, purchases, and inferred interests. Reading an article about diabetes is evidence of what someone viewed, not a diagnosis — but a category such as “Diabetes Interest” can preserve only the interest and leave a later customer of the data to assume the rest.

The assumptions become consequential when they follow a person into decisions about credit, insurance, or employment, without the person knowing which categories describe them.

Definition from The World That Agrees With You: Understanding and Managing Sycophancy in the Age of AI, by Timothy O’Brien. © 2026 Timothy O’Brien. All rights reserved.

In the book

See also

  • Real-time bidding
  • Tailored information
  • Personalization