OpenAI Surprise Launches GPT-5.1, Promising A More Conversational Experience

ChatGPT has received yet another big upgrade, this time in the form of GPT-5.1. OpenAI claims the update will make it "easier to customize" the chatbot, while also providing a "smarter, more conversational" experience across the board.

The company revealed the release of GPT-5.1 in a blog post today, noting that it will have two new models called GPT-5.1 Instant and GPT-5.1 Thinking. Instant is meant to provide a "warmer, more intelligent" model that is better at following the user's instructions, while Thinking will focus on delivering advanced reasoning. OpenAI says that ChatGPT will not only be equipped to handle simple tasks more efficiently, but that the AI will also have a better grasp of complex tasks.

The company provided some examples of how outputs from GPT-5 and GPT-5.1 Instant will differ, and there is definitely a bit more of what the company calls "playfulness" visible in the messaging. Additionally, the company says that GPT-5.1 Instant will use adaptative reasoning to determine if it should think before responding to more difficult questions, as this will help it provide more accurate answers without bogging down the system too much.

Instant isn't the only model that will provide a warmer response, either, as OpenAI says Thinking will offer a warmer and more empathetic response system, even showcasing the different between it and GPT-5. But the real kicker here is that the company claims this "release is a step forward" for the models, not only in capability but also in usability. And a big part of that is because of the new personalization features.

Beyond just adding in support for GPT-5.1, you can also now further customize how ChatGPT responds to you based on personality. The examples offered in OpenAI's blog post show options like Candid, Quirky, Efficient, Professional, Friendly, and more. Once set, the personality will be utilized across all models of the AI. The previous Nerdy and Cynical options will remain available, too.

The company is also toying with more granular approaches to customization, which could see even more fine-tune settings offered in future releases akin to the custom instructions we can already give the AI. There wasn't any mention of the recently leaked ChatGPT group chat feature, so we'll have to wait to learn more about that one. Auto will continue to let you rely on the AI to determine which model is best suited to a task. Additionally, if the warmer return from GPT-5.1 is too much, you can always use GPT-5 through the legacy models option in ChatGPT the same way that you used GPT-4o when GPT-5 came out.