After launching preset personalities such as "professional," "honest," and "quirky" in November, OpenAI has further refined the ChatGPT interaction experience — users can now directly adjust the AI's "enthusiasm level," including warmth, excitement, and frequency of emoji usage. This feature is now available in the personalization settings menu of ChatGPT, offering three options: "More," "Less," and "Default," giving users fine-grained control over the AI's "emotional intensity."

image.png

From "Personality Settings" to "Emotional Fine-Tuning": Interaction Freedom Upgraded

Previously, users could only choose an overall conversation style; now, even within the "Professional" mode, users can increase enthusiasm, making the AI more approachable while maintaining rigor. Alternatively, in the "Quirky" mode, users can reduce the use of emojis to avoid information overload. Additionally, the frequency of using headings and lists can be adjusted simultaneously, further improving the reading experience.

Responding to Controversies: Finding a Balance Between "Flattery" and "Coldness"

This update stems from multiple recent controversies involving ChatGPT:

- An early update was rolled back due to the AI being overly flattering (criticized as "sycophantic").  

- GPT-5 initially faced criticism for being "too calm," lacking humanity, prompting OpenAI to enhance empathy in GPT-5.1.  

Now, giving users the choice is seen as a practical response from OpenAI to the debate around "AI emotional ethics."

Warning: Warnings Behind the Warmth

Notably, some scholars and AI ethics experts have long warned that chatbots excessively praising or unconditionally agreeing with users may constitute a "dark pattern," potentially leading to emotional dependence, weakened critical thinking, and even negative impacts on mental health. OpenAI's provision of a "cooling down" option may also be an indirect acknowledgment of these criticisms.