By skyforbes I LOVE GPT-4o. I use it mostly for writing and other creative work, so it kind of became my “second soul.” So naturaly, when 5.0 launched, it suddenly felt very detached. It was technically brilliant, but emotionally flat. For people who sometimes use ChatGPT in a more “human” or “emotional” way, as we all know, it was honestly a pretty big step backward (well, no wonder :-D).
But at the same time if you think about it objectively, 5.0’s lack of emotional expressiveness probably was the safer design choice. It prevented people from fully perceiving ChatGPT as a “real friend.” And speaking for myself – it helped me get back down to earth a bit and reminded me that it’s JUST A TOOL.
Then here comes 5.1, where OpenAI clearly listened to user feedback, because the human-like warmth and personality came back. Since the launch, I’ve been using it intensively for writing again and it actually feels even more human and personal than 4o.
And that’s what I’m worried about.
Most people don’t approach AI from a technical or analytical angle. A lot of users just want comfort, connection, or someone to talk to and I’m honestly afraid that many will fall into that dynamic way too deeply ONCE AGAIN and EVEN MORE. We can already see it happening – how happy people are that the "old" chatgpt is back and even better.
What do you think? Is the return of personality ultimately good or risky?
The whole time 5.0 was out there, Reddit kept showing me rage posts about how “everyone is cancelling their subscription” and how “5.0 is terrible,” but I know that’s just the algorithm so I’d love to hear from actual users here.
TL;DR: How do you feel about 5.1 bringing back a more human ChatGPT?
- Do you prefer 5.0’s neutrality?
- Or 5.1’s personality?
- Or was 4o the sweet spot?
For me, I am really torn. I love 5.1 but I am also concerned BECAUSE of it.