By skyforbes Since its release, I've avoided GPT-5 / extended thinking because the numbered lists in its responses seemed unintuitive and largely useless to me.
I've only just figured out now that it doesn't have to respond in this manner at all — the model is just as intelligent as advertised.
All I needed to do was add the phrase "No checklists, no numbers — just your thoughts please." at the end of every prompt.
Give it a shot — I'm now getting long, clean, nuanced, intelligence and articulate answers.
I'm currently dealing with a difficult interpersonal situation, so I didn't need numbered lists of instructions and checklists, I needed a proper response, and this is working fantastically. There should really be some kind of toggle on / off button for this.