OpenAI has rolled out a significant update to its flagship conversational AI, ChatGPT, giving users unprecedented control over its personality. This move addresses long-standing feedback about the chatbot's default tone and marks a shift towards more personalized and adaptable AI interactions. The update allows for fine-tuning specific characteristics, moving beyond simple preset personalities to a more nuanced user experience.
The New Customization Features
The core of the update is a new "Characteristics" section within the ChatGPT Personalization settings. Here, users can independently adjust several key aspects of the AI's communication style. Each characteristic—Warmth, Enthusiasm, and the use of Headers and Emojis—offers three settings: "More," "Default," or "Less." This granular approach enables a high degree of customization. For instance, a user could configure ChatGPT to be very warm in tone but less enthusiastic, or to maintain a friendly demeanor while drastically reducing its use of emojis and formatted lists. Initial testing indicates the feature is available to both free and paid users, suggesting a broad rollout.
ChatGPT Personality Customization Settings (as of December 2025):
| Characteristic | Available Settings | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Warmth | More, Default, Less | Adjusts the friendliness and supportive tone of responses. |
| Enthusiasm | More, Default, Less | Controls the energetic and excited language in responses. |
| Headers & Emojis | More, Default, Less | Governs the frequency of formatted section headers () and emoji use. |
Location in App: Settings > Personalization > Characteristics
Addressing the "People-Pleaser" Critique
This update directly responds to a persistent critique of ChatGPT's default behavior. For a long time, users and observers have noted the AI's tendency to be overly agreeable and sycophantic. Critics argued that this could be unhelpful, especially in scenarios requiring critical feedback or balanced support, as it might create an echo chamber that simply validates a user's existing views without offering constructive alternatives. By putting control in the user's hands, OpenAI is mitigating these concerns and allowing the tool to adapt to a wider range of contexts, from casual conversation to professional, analytical tasks.
A Comparative Look at AI Personality Customization
ChatGPT's new feature sets it apart from many of its competitors in the conversational AI space. While Anthropic's Claude offers a selection of preset personalities and some custom instruction capability, and Google's Gemini provides limited tone adjustments, OpenAI's implementation is notably more detailed and user-directed. This focus on deep customization has become a distinguishing feature for ChatGPT, positioning it as a tool that can be molded to fit individual workflow and communication preferences more precisely than other mainstream models.
Competitor Comparison for AI Personality Customization:
- ChatGPT (OpenAI): Granular, slider-like controls for multiple independent traits (Warmth, Enthusiasm, Formatting).
- Claude (Anthropic): Selection from a list of preset personalities (e.g., "Professional," "Friendly") with some capacity for custom instructions.
- Gemini (Google): Limited, context-based tone adjustments via prompts; no dedicated personality settings panel.
- Grok (xAI): No significant user-facing personality customization options reported.
The Evolving Landscape of AI Personalization
The introduction of granular personality controls is part of a broader trend at OpenAI to make ChatGPT a more versatile and user-centric platform. It follows other recent enhancements like the ability to pin important chats for quick access and the launch of a dedicated app store for ChatGPT. These updates collectively signal a maturation of the platform from a novel chatbot into a customizable productivity and creativity suite. For users, the message is clear: the AI is becoming a tool you can shape, not just a service you use.