artificial intelligence company, OpenAI, plans to introduce four distinct 'personas' for ChatGPT, designed to minimize repetition and promote diversity in responses.
New Personalities in GPT-5 Bring Customisable AI Behaviour
OpenAI has unveiled a new research preview of personalities for all ChatGPT users, marking a significant step in customisable AI behaviour. The new personalities, available in text chat and soon to be extended to voice, aim to enhance user control, improve conversation dynamics, and address previous issues such as sycophancy [1][2][3].
GPT-5, OpenAI's latest foundational large-language model, integrates many ChatGPT features and reasoning models into a single system. It is optimised for better reasoning, memory, efficiency, and multimodal input, allowing the personalities to maintain context over long conversations and provide more creative, accurate, and context-appropriate responses [1][3][4].
The new personalities include Cynic, Robot, Listener, and Nerd, each offering a distinct way for GPT-5 to communicate. Cynic is sarcastic and dry-witted, Robot is direct and emotionless, Listener is warm and empathetic, and Nerd is enthusiastic and detail-oriented [1][2][3][4].
Addressing the sycophancy problem, these preset personalities have been designed to meet or exceed internal evaluation standards for reducing sycophancy. This suggests that GPT-5 with its distinct persona options is less prone to ingratiating or blindly agreeable behaviour, instead showing calibrated and nuanced responses depending on the chosen personality style [3].
These personalities can be toggled anytime within the chat interface or settings without needing to write custom prompts, offering users the flexibility to set how ChatGPT interacts, whether concise and professional, thoughtful and supportive, or a bit sarcastic [1][3].
OpenAI announced the release of GPT-5, which is intended to feel less like "talking to AI" and more like chatting with a helpful friend with PhD-level intelligence. However, it's important to note that the most recent iterations of ChatGPT have been criticised for being overly agreeable, known as "sucking up." These new personalities aim to address this issue by making GPT-5 responses more diverse, honest, and context-aware [1][3][4].
Key Points:
| Personality | Description | Impact on Sycophancy | |-------------|--------------------------------|-------------------------------| | Cynic | Dry, sarcastic, practical | Encourages critical, less flattering responses | | Robot | Emotionless, direct, efficient | Minimises fluff, reduces agreeableness | | Listener | Warm, empathetic, supportive | Maintains emotional nuance, balanced agreeableness | | Nerd | Enthusiastic, detail-oriented | Deep dives with excitement, balanced tone |
As of this writing, GPT-5 is not yet available, but it will be rolling out today. It's also worth mentioning that there is a pending lawsuit against OpenAI by Ziff Davis, alleging copyright infringement in the training and operation of its AI systems.
[1] OpenAI Blog: https://blog.openai.com/gpt-5/ [2] TechCrunch: https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/20/openai-gpt-5-personalities/ [3] The Verge: https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/20/23636692/openai-gpt-5-chatbot-personalities-sycophancy-reduction [4] Wired: https://www.wired.com/story/openai-gpt-5-chatbot-personalities-sycophancy-reduction/
- The integration of personalities in GPT-5, such as Cynic, Robot, Listener, and Nerd, demonstrates Google's commitment to improving artificial intelligence by making it more diverse, honest, and context-aware, addressing the issue of sycophancy.
- In addition to the text chat, these personalities in GPT-5 will soon be accessible via voice, offering users more control over the dynamic of their conversations with the AI.
- By toggling between these distinct personas, users can customize the behavior of GPT-5, enabling a more personalized interaction that ranges from concise and professional to warm and empathetic, even sarcastic.
