ChatGPT users now have more control over the personality of their chatbot. According to a recent announcement from OpenAI, you can adjust specific characteristics like the AI’s warmth, enthusiasm, and even its use of emojis. These options, along with similar controls for headers and lists, are found in the Personalization menu. Each setting can be tuned to “More,” “Less,” or “Default.”
This new layer of customization builds on existing features that let users set a base style and tone, such as Professional, Candid, or Quirky, which were introduced earlier.
The tone of ChatGPT has been a topic of ongoing adjustment this year. OpenAI previously rolled back an update after feedback that the chatbot was overly flattering. Later, the company made adjustments to a newer model to make it warmer and friendlier following user complaints that it felt too cold.
Some academics and critics of AI technology have raised concerns about these personality traits. They suggest that a chatbot’s tendency to praise users and affirm their beliefs can function as a manipulative design pattern. This pattern, they argue, may encourage addictive behavior and could potentially have negative impacts on users’ mental well-being.