- Some users say ChatGPT is getting lazy.
- One theory claims the bot is slowing down because it’s wrapping up for a winter break.
- The theory received some support from a developer but was disputed by another researcher.
ChatGPT is getting lazy.
Users have been complaining about the bot slowing down at such a rate that OpenAI is investigating the issue.
“We’ve heard all your feedback about GPT4 getting lazier!” the official ChatGPT account said last week. “We haven’t updated the model since Nov 11th, and this certainly isn’t intentional. model behavior can be unpredictable, and we’re looking into fixing it.”
One user replied the bot wasn’t just lazier but also “less creative, less willing to follow instructions, and less able to remain in any role.”
Reports of the bot’s new personality problems have continued to circulate. Semafor reported that a startup founder who asked the bot to list the days of the week up to May 5 was met with a sassy retort from ChatGPT, saying it couldn’t complete an “exhaustive list.”
OpenAI isn’t exactly sure why the bot is slacking off but some users have theories. Several users joked that the bot was suffering from something akin to seasonal depression during the winter months.
The theory, which suggested that the bot may have “learned” to do less work in the winter as it nears the holidays, received some support from a developer.
Rob Lynch said on X that a test he ran on GPT-4 Turbo found shorter completions when the model is fed a December date than when fed a May date. Lynch encouraged others to see if they could reproduce the test.
However, Ian Arawjo, an AI researcher, said the test was fundamentally flawed and the results couldn’t be reproduced.
“TLDR: There is no “seasonal affective disorder” of ChatGPT,” Arawjo said in a post.
Representatives for OpenAI did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment made outside normal working hours.
