ChatGPT now allows users to customize its personality traits
10 Jan 2025

OpenAI has launched a new feature for its AI-powered chatbot, ChatGPT, to personalize your interactions.

The current custom instructions menu on the web has been enhanced with new fields. You can now enter a preferred name or nickname, your profession, and other pertinent details about yourself.

You can also give "traits" to the chatbot like "Chatty," "Encouraging," and "Gen Z."

New feature aims to enhance user experience
User interaction

The new feature has been designed to enhance the experience of using ChatGPT. It prompts users to introduce themselves for more personalized responses from the chatbot.

However, this update is different from ChatGPT's memory feature which lets users instruct the chatbot to remember or forget specific information.

The memory function can store personal details as well as a wide range of conversation-related data.

Revamped menu maintains prompt engineering approach
Technical details

The revamped menu looks more like a user interface improvement than a major technical upgrade.

The previous custom instructions feature employed prompt engineering to shape ChatGPT's style and tone. This technique "primed" the AI with a paragraph of user-provided instructions to match its responses with those guidelines.

The new menu appears to continue with this approach but presents it in a more user-friendly manner.

OpenAI continues moderation of custom instructions
Moderation policy

OpenAI has said it will continue to moderate custom instructions to ensure they comply with its terms of use. This policy remains unchanged with the introduction of the updated personalization settings.

The company is constantly refining ChatGPT as its user base expands, adding features like live web search and a "Canvas" interface for writing and coding projects.