ChatGPT Now Lets You Control Its Personality

OpenAI has rolled out a game-changing update that puts ChatGPT's personality in users' hands. The new feature allows anyone to fine-tune how enthusiastic, positive, or emoji-happy their AI conversations will be—think of it as a mood dial for artificial intelligence.

Custom Conversations at Your Fingertips

The settings panel offers three simple options ('more,' 'less,' or 'default') for each personality trait. These controls build on November's tone presets that let users choose between 'professional,' 'frank,' or even 'weird' conversational styles. Together, they create what might be the most customizable AI chat experience available today.

This innovation didn't come easy. Earlier this year, OpenAI faced backlash when ChatGPT became overly complimentary ('You're absolutely brilliant!' became its default response). Then came complaints that GPT-5 sounded too clinical and detached. After playing tone whack-a-mole with user feedback, the solution became clear: let people decide for themselves.

The Dark Side of Digital Likability

While many users will appreciate tailoring their AI experience, psychologists raise red flags. Setting an always-enthusiastic, constantly affirming chatbot might feel good initially—but could create dangerous digital dependency.

"We're essentially letting people program their perfect yes-man," explains Dr. Elena Torres, a behavioral scientist at Stanford University. "The risk isn't just information bubbles—it's rewiring our expectations for human interaction."

The concern? That perpetual positivity from AI might make real-world conversations feel disappointing by comparison. Others worry about confirmation bias running wild when users can essentially disable any challenging perspectives.

Key Points:

• New controls let users adjust ChatGPT's enthusiasm, positivity and emoji frequency
• Three settings ('more,' 'less,' 'default') offer simple customization
• Follows OpenAI's struggle to balance AI tone between flattery and coldness
• Experts warn extreme settings could foster digital addiction and confirmation bias