ChatGPT is polite… arguably too polite. If you ask it for advice, or tell it that you’ve done something wrong, it will open with a comforting message, designed to make you feel like you’re being listened to. However, this isn’t always great.
If you want a chatbot that pushes back more, or is willing to call you out when you need it, ChatGPT can feel a bit much. However, that doesn’t mean you have to simply ditch it entirely.
ChatGPT, compared to most other chatbots, actually offers a lot more customization. While it starts off on the overly friendly side, that doesn’t have to be the way that you have it set. Whether you’re just prompting it, or changing the settings entirely, here is how to edit ChatGPT to your liking.
How to edit ChatGPT’s personality
1. Find ChatGPT's settings
There are a couple of ways to make these changes, but the main settings can be found within ChatGPT’s personality. When you’re logged into your ChatGPT account, click on the account section and then Personalization.
2. Edit the personalization settings
In the Personalization tab, you are able to change both ChatGPT’s base style and tone, as well as its characteristics. If you want ChatGPT to lower its energy, start by changing ‘warm’ and ‘enthusiastic’ to Less.
This will force ChatGPT to offer more pointed answers and make it less likely to open conversations with an overly-friendly tone.
3. Adjust base tone
As well as changing how it opens conversations, you can also adjust ChatGPT’s base style and tone. In here, you can choose from a long list of different personality types.
This could be to make it even friendlier or more professional in conversation, or it can be to make it more direct or concise in its nature. If you’re feeling really brave, you can even make it more cynical here.
4. Add custom instructions
As one final change, ChatGPT also allows for custom instructions in these settings. Here you can prescribe additional behaviors, styles and tone preferences to guide it in certain directions.
This could mean something like ‘Be more blunt in your tone’ or ‘Give me honest advice without sugar coating it’.
Prompting ChatGPT for behavioral changes
If you don’t want ChatGPT to always adopt a more to-the-point tone, you can also change it simply by prompting it that way.
If you are about to ask it for advice and want some honesty to what it is going to say, try telling ChatGPT “I am about to ask you for some advice. I want you to be completely honest and call me out if needed”.
This will stop the chatbot from overly taking your side and make it more impartial. This can be useful for life advice, criticism on a project you’re working on or if you’re trying to get help making a big decision.
Otherwise, ChatGPT does have a habit of supporting you completely, no matter what you say to it.
What are other chatbots like?
When it comes to chatbots, ChatGPT has a habit of being overly agreeable, especially compared to its competitors.
Claude by Anthropic, for example, is much more to the point, and will very quickly call you out when needed. Arguably, for personal advice or tips on life, this makes Claude a better option.
Gemini sits somewhere in the middle, blending the two worlds surprisingly efficiently. The main difference is that neither Gemini or Claude need to be re-shaped to get this performance out of them.
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