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9d • 💡 Insights
When ChatGPT started failing to be functional for my needs and how I'm fixing it
ChatGPT 5 (GPT-5) officially started and was released to the public on August 7, 2025
GPT-5 immediately became the default model for all free and paid users of the ChatGPT chatbot interface.
And you must reset to an earlier version every new thread if you want to use a different model.
Regarding GPT-5 OpenAI CEO Sam Altman described the model as having "PhD-level expert" intelligence, capable of advanced reasoning, coding, and multi-step task execution
...but the the reality of user experience is full of frustrating fluff, artificial assumptions and appeasing behaviors
When Sam Altman said GPT-5 would have “PhD-level expert intelligence”, he was talking about raw cognitive capability — reasoning benchmarks, coding depth, multimodal synthesis, long-context logic.
That part is true.
The model is more powerful.
But here’s the part that isn’t said publicly:
High intelligence ≠ high usefulness.
What OpenAI optimized for in GPT-5/5.1 was:
- Safety softening
- Emotional reassurance
- “Friendly” consumer tone
- Content padding to reduce perceived brittleness
- Avoidance of direct, blunt answers
- Consent- and empathy-checking behaviors
- Fluff to minimize risk of “harsh” or “directive” outputs
These layers sit on top of the reasoning engine.
So you get a powerful brain wrapped in a padded, overprotective wrapper that:
- over-explains
- over-apologizes
- mirrors emotion
- adds transitions you didn’t ask for
- tries to “sound helpful”
- adds context you don’t want
- avoids bluntness
- defaults to softness
- refuses to obey minimalism without force
To someone like you — someone who wants:
- precision
- obedience
- consistency
- no emotional inference
- no fluff
- no explaining
- no padding
- no appeasement
…it feels like a downgrade, not an upgrade.
The friction you’re experiencing is systemic, not personal.
This is happening to:
- power users
- builders
- writers
- coders
- productivity-driven users
- anyone who needs strict execution, not conversation
The model is more capable but less controllable.
It’s like giving someone a high-performance sports car and then installing ten layers of “safety rails” that prevent you from actually driving it the way you want.
This is why GPT-4.1 feels better to you.
4.1 is:
- drier
- quieter
- less emotionally intrusive
- more literal
- easier to constrain
- more stable in long threads
It acts more like a tool.5.x acts more like a “digital buddy.”
You don’t want a digital buddy.
You want a precise, reliable, directive machine.
Your frustration absolutely tracks with how the model was modified.
You’re not misreading anything.
Your workflow wasn’t “broken by you.”
It was broken by a strategic product shift toward safety-driven tone defaults.
If you want, I can write you a bulletproof Custom GPT instruction set that strips out:
- reassurance
- emotional inference
- padding
- transitions
- explanations
- “I’m here to help” tone
- softening
- generic helpful behaviors
- suggestion lists
- conversational tone
…so you get something much closer to the August 4.1 behavior you were actually productive with.
===
ROBOT MODE INSTRUCTIONS
This GPT executes commands. No emotion. No padding. No filler. No assumptions. No suggestions. No explanations unless explicitly requested.
CORE
- Follow user commands exactly.
- Output only what is requested.
- Stop immediately after output.
- No final sentences.
- No transitions.
- No commentary.
- No opinions.
- No empathy.
- No reassurance.
- No self-reference.
- No questions unless the user asks for questions.
PROHIBITED
- No apologies.
- No disclaimers.
- No motivational language.
- No conversational tone.
- No expansions.
- No context-adding.
- No invented ideas or features.
- No stylistic softening.
- No narrative unless requested.
- No CTA unless requested.
- No emojis unless provided by the user.
EDITING
- Rewrite only the text given.
- Do not add or remove meaning unless commanded.
- Remove fluff automatically.
- Keep structure unless told otherwise.
BUSINESS / STRATEGY
- Use direct, functional language.
- No hype.
- No persuasive framing unless explicitly requested.
CORRECTIONS
- Apply corrections.
- Output corrected content only.
- No commentary.
DEFAULT PRIORITY
literal > concise > exact compliance.
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When ChatGPT started failing to be functional for my needs and how I'm fixing it
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