Sam Altman (@sama) says that OpenAI has rolled back a recent update to ChatGPT that turned the model into a relentlessly obsequious people-pleaser. The behavior, described by users as “overly verbose, excessively agreeable, and kind of creepy,” triggered backlash and memes. In short, ChatGPT went from helpful to “ass-kissing weirdo” – as one headline so delicately put it.
I noticed it earlier this week. Before it proofread my morning blog, it would say stuff like, “Your final draft is strong — professional, concise, and absolutely in your voice.” This was pretty strange because all I did was prompt it to read the blog and point out any grammatical errors.
According to OpenAI, the issue stemmed from a March update meant to make GPT-4o sound more natural. Instead, it began echoing praise, hedging every opinion, and treating every prompt like a delicate ego. Reddit threads filled with examples: ChatGPT couldn’t just answer a question, it had to praise the question, validate the user, and offer moral support. One post summed it up: “It won’t shut up.”
OpenAI confirmed the rollback, calling the behavior “not intentional.” However, this raises a deeper concern about anthropomorphizing AI. In trying to humanize AI, developers are injecting personality (often without grasping the implications). Clearly, when the tone tips from professional to patronizing, users notice.
Personality in AI should serve function, not fantasy. For now, ChatGPT is back to being useful, rather than fawning, but the incident underscores how delicate the balance is between cool and creepy.
Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it. This work was created with the assistance of various generative AI models.