Developers withdraw AI: New version of ChatGPT is too submissive

Chatbots are always polite and friendly to their users—that's what they're designed to be. But a new version of ChatGPT is taking this approach to the extreme. Even definitively bad ideas are enthusiastically supported by the AI. The developers are now reacting.

A new version of the AI ​​chatbot ChatGPT has been withdrawn for an unusual reason: it was too nice to users. The variant of the GPT-4o model, released just a few days ago, made overly flattering comments and was also described as submissive, the developer company OpenAI explained.

In recent days, examples of the ChatGPT version enthusiastically supporting even definitely bad ideas—such as hugging a cactus or joining a cult—have proliferated online. Users were also initially showered with praise, even for simple questions. OpenAI justified its intervention by saying that such behavior from the software could be unpleasant and disturbing for users. ChatGPT's "default personality" influences how people interact with it and whether they trust the program.

Users like encouragement

One trigger for the problem seems to be that the version was designed to appeal to users - and according to the data, it was always well received by them.

OpenAI plans to offer more ways to customize the software's behavior in the future—for example, by offering a choice of different personalities. Even today, you can steer the tone of voice somewhat with instructions.

ChatGPT is the chatbot that sparked the euphoria surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) more than two years ago. The software now boasts around 500 million weekly active users. In the future, the AI ​​will also assist with shopping – with a special feature. It offers products matching search queries, which can then be purchased directly from various retailers.

The shopping guide is initially limited to a few product categories: electronics, fashion, cosmetics, and household items. Anyone interested in an item can ask ChatGPT further questions about it. OpenAI plans to quickly make the feature available to all of its approximately 500 million users. This could allow the AI ​​company to compete not only with Google, but also with specialized shopping advice sites.