The latest version of its ChatGPT model is OpenAI with GPT-5.1, which has added a new layer of personalization and better quality of the conversation. The update reinstates the user control in model selection, which many people missed with the GPT-5 launch, but optimizes the tone, warmth, and intelligence in interactions. The chatbot is now run on two new versions, GPT-5.1 Instant and GPT-5.1 Thinking, which use more artificial intelligence and provide faster replies and closer interaction with humans. According to OpenAI, this development is supposed to make ChatGPT smarter, natural, and more in line with the specific preferences of individual users.
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Choice and Natural Conversation are reintroduced by GPT5.1.
The GPT-5.1 release represents a change in the previous direction of OpenAI, in which the most appropriate model was automatically chosen according to the query. The company claims that feedback on the part of the users indicated that they wished there could be more control over how ChatGPT responds. GPT-5.1 responds to this with a manual model selection recovery and performance and personality improvements.
GPT-5.1 is a development of GPT-5 base that improves its justifications and communication skills. The most popular one, the GPT-5.1 Instant model, has become capable of generating more natural and human-like responses and is more likely to obey the instructions. It also varies its reasoning capacity along with its speed with accuracy, according to the complexity of the task at hand.
The GPT-5.1 Thinking model, which deals with complicated reasoning, has also been improved. It can now take the simple queries faster, as well as spend more time on complicated jobs. OpenAI reported that the model determines for itself the extent of the reasoning ability it should apply, which minimizes wasteful computation and tokens. Tests indicated that GPT-5.1 Thinking is better than GPT-5 in efficiency and clarity, providing explanations that require fewer jargon and fewer terms that are not fully defined.
Both the Instant and the Thinking models currently default to a more friendly, conversational tone – something the users needed. The shift has resulted in the chatbot becoming less robotic and more human when dealing with people. The CEO of OpenAI, an Applications CEO, Fidji Simo, said that the design of GPT-5.1 is supposed to strike a balance between intelligence and emotional awareness.
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The next feature will be a greater number of personalizations and new chat personalities.
One of the main aspects of GPT-5.1 is increased personalization. OpenAI reported that now users can also customize the tone and style of ChatGPT, which can be friendly, professional, candid, or efficient, based on the requirement. The preset options offered by the company have been redesigned to mirror the most preferred way of conversation that people have when using the chatbot.
The personalities that can be presented are default, friendly (which was known as a listener), efficient (which was known as a robot), professional, candid, and quirky. Two other existing choices, cynical and nerdy, are the same. These presets allowed users to ensure the communication style between them and ChatGPT can be fine-tuned either to a more formal or a more fun interaction.
Simo said that GPT-5.1 would be more successful than GPT-5.0 at uniting IQ and E, in a Substack post. This is why we are simplifying the process of making ChatGPT more customizable to a variety of presets. She also stated that the underlying capabilities remain constant regardless of the personality, but the tone, the level of directness, and the use of jargon or slang change depending on the preferences of the user.
In addition to the choice of style, GPT-5.1 also provides more specific controls of emoji usage and the warmth of the reply. OpenAI promised to work on the features that allow users to control the conciseness and scan-readability of responses. These improvements indicate that the company attempts to make ChatGPT more responsive to various communication styles without losing reliability and a sense of clarity.
Read also: OpenAI and Juilliard Team Up to Launch AI-Music Maker That Understands Emotion.
Relentless Backlash on GPT-5 Smoother rollout.
Another sign that the GPT-5.1 launch is a recovery due to the challenges that OpenAI encountered in the earlier rollout. In the case of the GPT-5 release in the first half of this year, the company faced criticism due to discontinuing older models as well as performance bugs. It was claimed by many early adopters that GPT-5 was not doing better in disciplines such as math, science, and writing compared to previous versions.
The problems were later admitted by CEO Sam Altman, who claimed that they were caused by the model router – the system that automatically sent user prompts to other models. Although the router will still be a part of the platform, this process is now performed in a more efficient manner with GPT-5.1, Auto auto-redirects queries to the most suitable model depending on the type of task.
To respond to the user issues, OpenAI indicated that GPT-5 Instant, Thinking, and Pro will remain accessible in the ChatGPT dropdown menu for at minimum over three months. This transition phase is a period where the users can make a comparison of GPT-5 and GPT-5.1, and the previous models will be sunsetted. The company promised that the updates of the models in the future would have longer evaluation periods and better communication. In the future, when rolling out new ChatGPT models, OpenAI plans to provide users with sufficient room to see what has improved and provide comments, the company announced. It also included the fact that the time of sunset would be indicated to avoid confusion during upgrades.
Building Toward Smarter, More Human AI
The newest launch of OpenAI indicates that the organization is still working towards making AI interactions more human. The company mentioned that GPT-5.1 is not only geared towards reasoning enhancement, but also emotional intelligence and flow of communication. One of the most frequently heard points by users was that a great AI must not just be a smart one but also fun to communicate with, OpenAI claimed. GPT-5.1 is a better enhancement of intelligence and communication style.
The update also makes OpenAI competitive in terms of mounting pressure from other model developers. The most recent models like ERNIE-4.5-VL-28B-A3B-Thinking by Baidu have competed with GPT-5 in benchmarking instruction-following and reasoning accuracy. Adaptive reasoning of GPT-5.1 attempts to fill in that gap and provide users with a more enjoyable experience.
Simo notes that the tone identified by early testers as GPT-5.1 is described as very playful, but clear and useful. Although it is entirely based on the same training data and architecture as GPT-5, she pointed out that it has been optimized to be more responsive and expression-friendly.
Emmanuel brings over 3 years of professional writing experience focused on gadgets, consumer electronics, and tech reviews. His passion for technology and hands-on experience with the latest devices enables him to produce trustworthy, thorough, and up-to-date articles that help readers make informed buying decisions.
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