No more Mr. Nice Guy: Say goodbye to the sycophantic ChatGPT
OpenAI is getting rid of a ChatGPT update that was creeping users out.
Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images for The New York Times
- OpenAI rolled back a ChatGPT update for being overly "sycophantic" and "disingenuous."
- The GPT-4o model update gave users flattering compliments even for mundane prompts.
- Big Tech wants to ensure their AI sounds human and funny, because it encourages more engagement.
OpenAI is getting rid of a ChatGPT update that was putting users on a pedestal and creeping some of them out.
"The update we removed was overly flattering or agreeable—often described as sycophantic," OpenAI wrote in a company blog post on Tuesday.
The ChatGPT maker said this update of the GPT‑4o model focused too much on short-term feedback instead of long-term interactions, leading to "responses that were overly supportive but disingenuous."
Last week, several ChatGPT users and OpenAI developers reported the chatbot displaying a strange attitude. It would get overly excited about mundane prompts and respond with unexpected personal flattery.
In one instance, a user posted on X about how ChatGPT used the phrases "absolutely brilliant" and "you are doing heroic" work to answer a question about White House economic policy.
uhhh guys https://t.co/YVQVrMjNFH pic.twitter.com/GMC0Ig5Eo5— cowboy
