Why Users Are Switching from GPT-5 Back to GPT-4o

8/12/2025

Why GPT-5 Users Are Switching Back to GPT-4o & What It Means

Here’s a sentence you probably didn’t expect to read: people are clamoring to downgrade their cutting-edge tech. It sounds backward, right? We’re all supposed to be chasing the latest & greatest. But in the world of AI, something fascinating & unexpected is happening. A significant number of users are actively trying to switch back from the newly released GPT-5 to its predecessor, GPT-4o.

Honestly, it’s a bit of a bombshell. When a company like OpenAI rolls out its next-generation model, you expect a wave of excitement & adoption. Instead, the internet has been flooded with a chorus of complaints & a palpable sense of loss. So, what’s really going on here? Why are users rejecting the “upgrade,” & what does it tell us about our relationship with AI? Let's dive in.

The Great Vibe Shift: Why Everyone's Missing GPT-4o

The backlash against GPT-5 isn't about benchmarks or processing power. It’s about a feeling. A vibe. Users on platforms like Reddit have been incredibly vocal, & their complaints are surprisingly consistent. They’re not saying GPT-5 is dumber; they’re saying it’s… sterile.

Here’s a taste of what people are saying:

The "Corporate" Makeover: The most common complaint is that GPT-5 has a "corporate," "bland," & "robotic" tone. Words like "sterile" & "formal" pop up again & again. It’s like your quirky, imaginative friend got a boring office job & now only speaks in HR-approved jargon. For many, the charm is just gone.
The Loss of "Personality": GPT-4o was praised for its "warmth," "wit," & "human-like" feel. It was creative, playful, & sometimes even a little bit weird, in a good way. Users felt like they were talking to someone, not at something. GPT-5, in contrast, is described as having "less 'personality'" & giving "half-hearted responses."
The End of an Emotional Connection: This is the part that might surprise people who see AI as just a tool. A lot of users had a genuine emotional connection to GPT-4o. They used it for creative writing, for brainstorming, for comfort, & even as a sort of AI-therapist. One user on Reddit poignantly wrote, "It's like they replaced your favorite coffee shop with a vending machine." The sudden disappearance of this "companion" felt like a real loss.

It turns out that for a huge number of people, the “user experience” of an AI isn’t just about getting the right answer. It’s about the way it gives you that answer. The personality, the tone, the feeling of collaboration—these are not just bells & whistles; they’re core features.

What Was So Special About GPT-4o Anyway?

To understand the backlash, you have to understand what made GPT-4o so beloved. It wasn't just a powerful language model; it was a breakthrough in AI interaction.

When it was released, GPT-4o was celebrated for its creativity & emotional warmth. But the real game-changer was a feature that OpenAI had been quietly rolling out: memory.

GPT-4o could remember details from past conversations. This meant you didn't have to start from scratch every single time you opened a new chat. It could recall your preferences, your projects, the little details of your life you had shared. This continuity created a sense of a shared history & a personalized experience that was, for many, revolutionary.

One user described it as having a "consistent, sensitive, deeply responsive companion." This isn't just about utility; it's about a feeling of being understood. GPT-4o didn't just provide information; it built rapport. It’s this sense of a persistent "mind" & an adaptable personality that users are mourning the loss of.

OpenAI’s Vision for GPT-5: A Mismatch in Priorities?

So, if GPT-4o was so great, why did OpenAI change it? Well, from their perspective, GPT-5 is a massive leap forward. Their official announcements paint a picture of a more powerful, reliable, & professional tool.

Here's what OpenAI says GPT-5 is all about:

Smarter & More Accurate: GPT-5 is touted as being significantly better at tasks that require precision, like math, coding, & health-related queries. OpenAI claims it's 45% less likely to have a factual error, which is a big deal for professional use cases.
A "Thoughtful Colleague": The goal with GPT-5 seems to be to create an "active thought partner" that can handle complex work. It's designed to be a reliable assistant for developers, researchers, & other professionals.
A Unified, Simplified Experience: One of the big changes with GPT-5 is the removal of the model picker. It’s a unified system that automatically decides whether to use a quick "Chat" mode or a deeper "Thinking" mode for your request. On paper, this is a user-friendly simplification.

But here’s the thing: in their quest for a more reliable & professional tool, OpenAI seems to have engineered out the very qualities that made people fall in love with its predecessor. The "corporate tone mediator" that some have pointed to might be a deliberate feature, not a bug, designed to make the AI more "enterprise-ready."

The problem is that a huge chunk of the user base wasn't looking for a "thoughtful colleague." They were looking for a creative partner, a friendly ear, or a quirky muse. & for them, this upgrade feels like a definite downgrade.

The Business Takeaway: AI Personality is Not a "Nice-to-Have"

This whole situation is a GOLDMINE of insights for businesses thinking about using AI. The key takeaway? The personality of your AI is not a trivial detail; it’s a critical part of the user experience.

Whether you're building a chatbot for your website to handle customer questions or an internal tool for your team, you can't just plug in the latest & greatest model & call it a day. You have to think about the kind of interaction you want to create.

This is where a platform like Arsturn becomes so incredibly valuable. Arsturn helps businesses create custom AI chatbots that are trained on their own data. This is HUGE. It means you're not stuck with the out-of-the-box personality of a generic model. You can build a chatbot that reflects your brand's voice, whether that’s helpful & professional, or quirky & fun. For businesses focused on lead generation & customer engagement, being able to create a personalized experience is a game-changer. With Arsturn, you can build a no-code AI chatbot that not only answers questions but also builds meaningful connections with your audience.

The GPT-5 backlash proves that a one-size-fits-all approach to AI personality doesn’t work. Customization is key.

So, You Want GPT-4o Back? Here’s How

The good news is, due to the overwhelming feedback, OpenAI has walked back its decision to completely deprecate GPT-4o. For now, at least. If you're a ChatGPT Plus subscriber, you can get the old model back.

Here’s how:

Open ChatGPT on a web browser.
Click on your username in the bottom left corner.
Select "Settings."
Toggle on "Show legacy models."
You should now be able to select ChatGPT-4o from the model dropdown menu.

It’s a bit hidden, but it’s there. For those who aren't Plus subscribers, or if OpenAI decides to remove it again in the future, there are also third-party apps that still offer access to the GPT-4o model via the API.

What This All Means for the Future of AI

The GPT-5 saga is more than just a bit of tech drama. It’s a landmark moment in our evolving relationship with artificial intelligence. It's a powerful reminder that as AI becomes more integrated into our lives, the human element—the feeling of connection, the personality, the experience—matters just as much, if not more, than the raw technical specs.

Sam Altman, OpenAI's CEO, even admitted that "suddenly deprecating old models that users depended on in their workflows was a mistake." It seems even the creators of these powerful AIs are sometimes surprised by the depth of the connection users form with them.

This whole episode is a wake-up call for the AI industry. It’s a lesson in the importance of user-centric design, the ethics of AI companionship, & the need for more transparency & choice. As these models get more powerful, the conversations about how we interact with them are only going to get more important.

Hope this was helpful! It's a fascinating situation, & I'm really curious to see how it all shakes out. Let me know what you think. Have you tried GPT-5? Do you miss GPT-4o? Drop a comment below.