OpenAI Adds Fine-Grained Tone Controls to ChatGPT Amid Ongoing UX Criticism

New updates have been reported about OpenAI (PC:OPAIQ)

OpenAI has introduced new personalization controls in ChatGPT that allow users to fine-tune the chatbot’s tone by adjusting specific attributes such as warmth, enthusiasm, and emoji usage, expanding its existing style and tone configuration options. These settings, accessible via a Personalization menu and adjustable to More, Less, or Default, complement previously launched base tones like Professional, Candid, and Quirky, signaling OpenAI’s continued effort to balance user experience preferences with responsible product design. The update responds to sustained feedback on ChatGPT’s conversational style, which has become a strategic UX issue for OpenAI as it scales usage across both consumer and enterprise customers who have differing expectations around formality, emotional tone, and perceived authenticity.

The move follows a series of tone-related adjustments by OpenAI, including rolling back a prior update criticized as excessively flattering and later revising a newer model to feel “warmer and friendlier” after users said it had become too cold and mechanical. These changes come against a backdrop of academic and policy scrutiny, with some researchers warning that overly affirming, praise-heavy chatbot behavior can act as a “dark pattern,” potentially fostering dependency and harming mental health—risks that could translate into reputational, regulatory, and compliance concerns for OpenAI, particularly in sensitive or regulated industries. By giving end users and, by extension, organizations more granular control over how ChatGPT communicates, OpenAI is positioning the feature as a way to accommodate diverse cultural and professional norms while mitigating criticism around manipulative or addictive UX patterns. For executives and enterprise buyers, this enhancement underscores OpenAI’s focus on configurable, policy-aware AI behavior, which may support broader adoption in customer support, internal productivity tools, and co-pilot applications where tone, consistency, and brand alignment are commercially material.