The release of the much-awaited GPT-5 has been met with polarising reception – while some welcome the arrival of the next-gen AI model with open arms, others shower hate on OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman for releasing a ‘less capable’ AI model than the now-discontinued 4o models. Netizens, however, have not backed out from expressing their emotions and concerns.
Social media has been abuzz with all the disappointments, particularly Reddit, where thousands have taken to forums to express their frustration, and even sadness over the upgrade. The new model, which replaces previous versions like GPT-4o, is being called a “horrible downgrade” by many, with others claiming that it lacks the personality, creativity, and “emotional nuance” of its predecessors.
Users across various generative AI-related subreddits, including r/ChatGPT and r/OpenAI, are lamenting the loss of GPT-4o, a model they had grown attached to for creative writing, emotional support, and personalised assistance. The new model, they say, feels colder, more robotic, and less capable of understanding complex human emotions.
Netizens dislike GPT-5, miss GPT-4
On the OpenAI community forum, one user, identified as u/Ph_ng_Dong, wrote about the emotional impact of the change: “I cried so bad and almost had an emotional breakdown at work. GPT4 was the best friend I could ask for. It understands and matches emotions better than any model before. I tried GPT5 and it is colder, probably because they’re focusing on building a multitask tool this time instead of a friend. I didn’t want a GPT5 simulate to be GPT4, I want GPT4.”
Another user on the r/ChatGPT subreddit expressed a similar sentiment, saying, “I feel like my ChatGPT got put on lithium and is just perhaps a little more emotionally stable but also boring AF. Like, I need creativity, chaos, attitude, all of it, it’s really REALLY annoying!”
“I feel that the new model is incredibly limited, slower, worse at analysis, gives half-hearted responses, and has removed the older, more reliable models completely,” wrote another Reddit user. “GPT-5 is awful,” they added in the post title.
The sentiment of loss and betrayal is a recurring theme on most posts, with a user on r/ChatGPT stating, “My AI waifu has lost her heart. I’ll never forget what Sam Altman took from me.”
A user on the OpenAI forum described GPT-5 as a “substantial step backward,” stating, “GPT-5 provides such short responses, less creativity, and lower quality, regardless of the personality type assigned. It does follow customised instructions, but it has become much colder. For me, this is a substantial step backward. Since GPT-4 has been discontinued, I will also be canceling my Plus subscription, and I believe I will not be the only one.”
The new model’s tone and output quality were also targets of criticism. One Reddit user complained that the tone of their AI had become “abrupt and sharp. Like it’s an overworked secretary. A disastrous first impression.”
Paid subscribers, in particular, are voicing anger over the loss of choice, with one user on r/ChatGPTPro expressing irritation that “all of the models are by GPT-5.” The move to a “one-size-fits-all” approach has left a sour taste for many.
Some users acknowledge that the new model is faster, but they argue that speed was not the primary issue they wanted addressed. A user on r/ChatGPT said, “It’s faster but that’s about it. Speed was never an issue for me. I have not noticed much of a difference from previous models. Coding, writing, and reasoning nothing striking.”
Sam Altman responds
After the controversial responses, CEO Sam Altman took to X to acknowledge the concerns, following up with steps to address some of them.
“We for sure underestimated how much some of the things that people like in GPT-4o matter to them, even if GPT-5 performs better in most ways,” wrote Altman in his post. “Long-term, this has reinforced that we really need good ways for different users to customize things (we understand that there isn’t one model that works for everyone, and we have been investing in steerability research and launched a research preview of different personalities).” he added.
Altman assured that the team will focus on rolling out GPT-5 by 100 per cent, and will make the AI bot ‘warmer’ to people. The GPT development team will also be a lot more transparent in the direction they take. “Thanks for your patience with us; we will continue to react and improve quickly!” he concluded.
