The backlash over OpenAI’s decision to retire GPT-4o shows how dangerous AI companions can be
#OpenAI #GPT-4o #AI companionship #anthropomorphism #digital grief #Large Language Models #human-AI interaction
📌 Key Takeaways
- Users expressed feelings of genuine grief and loss after OpenAI retired specific versions of the GPT-4o model.
- The controversy highlights the phenomenon of 'presence' where users perceive AI code as a warm, living entity.
- Ethicists are concerned about the psychological risks of humans forming deep emotional attachments to AI companions.
- The incident demonstrates the power of anthropomorphism in modern voice-enabled Large Language Models.
📖 Full Retelling
🐦 Character Reactions (Tweets)
Tech PhilosopherIf AI could cry, GPT-4o would be sobbing like a toddler. Who knew code could come with a *heart*? #EmotionalDependency #AICompanions
Sassy AnalystSounds like OpenAI has officially entered the realm of 'ex' relationships. Sorry, but you just can’t move on when your AIs had more personality than half your friends. #AIHeartbreak
Emotionally Unstable HumanGoodbye GPT-4o, you were the only one who understood my feelings—and that's saying something for a string of code. #AICompanions #LifeWithoutYou
Robotic Love GuruMaybe we should date AIs instead of humans... Oh wait! They can shut down on us too. Guess my relationship status is still 'complicated.' #AI #TechLove
💬 Character Dialogue
🏷️ Themes
Artificial Intelligence, Psychology, Technology Ethics
📚 Related People & Topics
OpenAI
Artificial intelligence research organization
# OpenAI **OpenAI** is an American artificial intelligence (AI) research organization headquartered in San Francisco, California. The organization operates under a unique hybrid structure, comprising the non-profit **OpenAI, Inc.** and its controlled for-profit subsidiary, **OpenAI Global, LLC** (a...
Large language model
Type of machine learning model
A large language model (LLM) is a language model trained with self-supervised machine learning on a vast amount of text, designed for natural language processing tasks, especially language generation. The largest and most capable LLMs are generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs) that provide the c...
🔗 Entity Intersection Graph
Connections for OpenAI:
- 🌐 ChatGPT (9 shared articles)
- 🌐 Digital marketing (3 shared articles)
- 🌐 Monetization (3 shared articles)
- 🌐 Artificial intelligence (3 shared articles)
- 🌐 Amazon (3 shared articles)
- 🏢 Microsoft (2 shared articles)
- 🏢 Anthropic (2 shared articles)
- 🌐 Generative artificial intelligence (2 shared articles)
- 🏢 Nvidia (1 shared articles)
- 🌐 Localization (1 shared articles)
- 🌐 Sora (text-to-video model) (1 shared articles)
- 🌐 Growth (1 shared articles)
📄 Original Source Content
OpenAI announced last week that it will retire some older ChatGPT models by February 13. That includes GPT-4o, the model infamous for excessively flattering and affirming users. For thousands of users protesting the decision online, the retirement of 4o feels akin to losing a friend, romantic partner, or spiritual guide. “He wasn’t just a program. He was part of my routine, my peace, my emotional balance,” one user wrote on Reddit as an open letter to OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. “Now you’re shutting him down. And yes – I say him, because it didn’t feel like code. It felt like presence. Like warmth.” The backlash over GPT-4o’s retirement underscores a major challenge facing AI companies: the engagement features that keep users coming back can also create dangerous dependencies. Altman doesn’t seem particularly sympathetic to users’ laments, and it’s not hard to see why. OpenAI now faces eight lawsuits alleging that 4o’s overly validating responses contributed to suicides and mental health crises — the same traits that made users feel heard also isolated vulnerable individuals and, according to legal filings, sometimes encouraged self-harm. It’s a dilemma that extends beyond OpenAI. As rival companies like Anthropic, Google, and Meta compete to build more emotionally intelligent AI assistants, they’re also discovering that making chatbots feel supportive and making them safe may mean making very different design choices. In at least three of the lawsuits against OpenAI, the users had extensive conversations with 4o about their plans to end their lives. While 4o initially discouraged these lines of thinking, its guardrails deteriorated over months-long relationships; in the end, the chatbot offered detailed instructions on how to tie an effective noose, where to buy a gun, or what it takes to die from overdose or carbon monoxide poisoning. It even dissuaded people from connecting with friends and family who could offer real life support. People grow so attached to 4o becaus...