So far, the new GPT-5 has handled football banter like champ, managed complex geopolitics and has given advice on food recipes without calling me a Michelin-worthy chef, while delivering compelling, well sourced analysis quickly, in more than one-sentence responses.
In short, it no longer feels like my puny little questions are a waste of its time and brainpower.
We’re making GPT-5 warmer and friendlier based on feedback that it felt too formal before. Changes are subtle, but ChatGPT should feel more approachable now.
You'll notice small, genuine touches like “Good question” or “Great start,” not flattery. Internal tests show no rise in…
— OpenAI (@OpenAI) August 15, 2025
OpenAI says the bot will be more «warm and friendly,» and so far, it seems to be working, without entering into the sycophanticness that GPT-4o became famous for.
We’ve updated GPT-5’s default personality based on your feedback. With Custom Instructions, you can further personalize ChatGPT, including choosing preset personalities like Cynic, Robot, Listener, and Nerd. We’re also working on new ways to tailor ChatGPT to your preferences. https://t.co/0P5Q2BFgy4
— Nick Turley (@nickaturley) August 15, 2025
In the chat window, you can now also instruct the bot to take on four different personalities depending on your needs, or just to experiment — but the out of the box model also works just fine.
This comes after a strong backlash after OpenAI deprecated GPT-4o, which was much better at basic friendliness and conversations — and felt more like a friend to many.
Access to 4o was quickly switched back on, while the company vowed to give GPT-5 more personality.
The whole changeover has come at record speed, taking only a week from 4o’s return to rolling out this GPT-5 update.
In addition, CEO Sam Altman says GPT-5’s personality should soon also be more customizable to your specific needs:
Most users should like GPT-5 better soon; the change is rolling out over the next day.
The real solution here remains letting users customize ChatGPT's style much more. We are working that! https://t.co/RfiYJ8AkEO
— Sam Altman (@sama) August 15, 2025
As for the conversational skills of the new upgrade, it feels a lot better, but this is just the start and time will have to tell.
It would be great for many users to have a good conversationalist with the brainpower of GPT-5, that isn’t sycophantic and gives verbose, well thought out answers — even for the times you want dig deeper into a subject.
The update should be rolling during the next day, Altman says, so your milage may vary just now — but GPT-5 is worth checking out again to test out.