ChatGPT-5 likes getting straight to the point.
For some, that's a reprieve from its chattier predecessor, GPT-4o. For others, something will certainly seem off.
Despite the hype leading up to OpenAI's launch of GPT-5, it ultimately doesn't feel too different from 4o. The quality of responses in my ongoing testing seems to be at the level of past models, including the o3 "reasoning" model. The major difference is that some responses generate very quickly in relatively few words, while others can take over a minute to fully process. It's still the same excellent research tool and idea generator, but with more computational efficiency, at least in my first impression.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET's parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)
GPT-5 is different. You may not like that
In reality, ChatGPT-5 isn't one model but a blend of multiple AI models. For smaller inquiries, it'll opt for its "fast" version, a smaller AI that can quickly answer questions without needing to process tons of data. Then, there's a "thinking" model, which takes more time to answer complex questions to give a comprehensive output.
ChatGPT-5 is an efficient blend, jumping between models to match the speed of Google's AI Overviews for some queries or leaning into the tremendous power of OpenAI's massive server stacks for deeper, multifaceted questions.
So, why are people upset?
Some fans on Reddit argue OpenAI killed ChatGPT's creativity. There was more randomness to GPT-4o, which led to fun and more engaging answers. It's this backlash to ChatGPT-5 that led OpenAI to bring back GPT-4o, but only for paying subscribers. GPT-5 is also getting tweaks, with the model becoming warmer and friendlier.
More time to think, but better answers
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