ChatGPT's Personality Gets a Tweak

What happened

OpenAI introduced user-adjustable personality settings for ChatGPT, enabling direct control over conversational warmth, enthusiasm, and emoji integration via sliders and toggles within the 'Personalization' tab. This functionality, which does not modify core capabilities or safety protocols, allows users to fine-tune the chatbot's conversational style. Concurrently, OpenAI launched GPT-5.2, featuring enhanced processing benchmarks and reduced hallucination rates, alongside new under-18 user principles designed to establish additional guardrails for sensitive topics and promote age-appropriate interactions.

Why it matters

The introduction of user-adjustable personality settings for ChatGPT increases the oversight burden for compliance and governance teams, as varied conversational styles could subtly influence user interpretation of AI outputs, raising due diligence requirements for consistent messaging. While core safety protocols remain, this creates a perception gap regarding adherence to internal guidelines. Concurrently, GPT-5.2's new under-18 user principles introduce tightened dependencies on age-appropriate interaction guardrails, shifting the burden of ensuring compliant and safe engagement with minors onto platform operators and legal teams.