ChatGPT OpenAI’s GPT-5: A bold upgrade that sparked controversy

OpenAI released GPT-5 as an effort to bring together the GPT-series and the o-series family of models in one integrated, general-purpose AI model. The intention of this consolidation was to remove the need of a model-specific picker, although it also deprecated some older models such as GPT-4o. Although a recent attempt to make using the system easier, the transition has been met with a lot of criticism, particularly among long-time GPT-4o users, who have enjoyed its creativity and conversational and emotional richness.

OpenAI’s GPT-5: User reactions “We Want GPT-4o Back”

On Reddit’s r/ChatGPT, many users criticised GPT-5’s responses for being short, less engaging, and lacking personality. One Redditor described it as “worse for creative work—feels sterile and abrupt”. Another long-time GPT-4o user said in an AMA with Sam Altman, “I know GPT-5 is better for reasoning and coding, but not all of us need a pro coding model. We valued 4o for roleplay, collaboration, and emotional nuance.”
Requests to restore GPT-4o have surged, with users expressing frustration over disrupted workflows, reduced long-form interactions, and broken creative dynamics.

Technical issues with OpenAI’s GPT-5: : The “Autoswitcher” problem

According to CEO Sam Altman, GPT-5 had a provisional autoswitcher: an advanced real-time routing mechanism that helps guide each request to the most suitable internal model version in use. At launch, this system was defective. The result of this technical glitch was that GPT-5 performed below expectations and, in the words of Altman, were left feeling way dumber than hoped. To this, OpenAI is on its toes looking to correct the autoswitcher so as to regain its former capacities of the model, and is at the same time looking to enhance the expectancy of users. 

Also, OpenAI is coming up with transparency with regard to showing which particular model is making responses to update users. In order to accommodate the concerns of the user, it is expanded upon how it is mentioned that the GPT-4o model will still be available to Plus subscribers on a temporary basis to keep track of how it is used. Furthermore, OpenAI increased the rate limit in GPT-5 Plus subscribers by twofold in an effort to appease those reporting the occurrence of throttling limits when using it extensively.

Industry leaders on LinkedIn and X (Twitter) say that GPT-5 is trained to perform complex reasoning, coding and tasks that are professional but at the cost of casual creativity and personality. AI researcher Christina Kim noted, “A universal model is a great technical goal, but creative users still need tailored AI experiences.” The positive features of the model, such as reduced hallucinations, safer reactions, and high-level professional thinking are accepted, yet professionals believe that the user engagement and personality are important aspects just as technical accuracy.

Users say that GPT-5 is slower and less responsive than GPT-4o, some of them are developers. The medium level of reasoning that is the default of the model is capable of leading to longer generation times that frustrate the users who want quick responses. Although this setting can be changed to speed things up, it can also lessen the quality of the output. Announcing that OpenAI is currently in operation, Altman told CNBC that it is not profitable even though it managed to incur revenue of 3.7 billion dollars in its last year. It was incurring losses of approximately five billion dollars.

Large AI models are costly to run, especially with multiple legacy models, so retiring older models such as GPT-4o may be an element of cost-control measures. Yet this threatens to cause a backlash among loyal users, leaving OpenAI in a catch-22 between trading monetary stability and the will of the community.

Bridging tech advancement and user needs

In some areas, GPT-5 is a technological breakthrough, although a failure to win users on its practical side, in terms of functionality change and performance peculiarities, and with the elimination of favourite opportunities. The fact that OpenAI was ready and wanted to temporarily re-introduce GPT-4o as well as make routing systems and other processes more transparent demonstrates willingness to incorporate feedback- yet the bottom line is whether GPT-5 can indeed reconcile power and creativity that technical users long to have back together again- within the high-context, highly personality-driven individual that many users miss.

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