If your chats with ChatGPT have started to feel a little robotic, you’re not alone. The company behind it has clearly been listening, and its latest update is focused on making the AI not just more capable, but also more pleasant to talk to.

Starting to roll out for paying users, the new version, dubbed GPT-5.1, brings meaningful upgrades to the brains and the personality of the chatbot. The company is pitching it as a significant step toward AI that feels less like a tool and more like a helpful partner.

The update focuses on two main versions of its model:

1. GPT-5.1 Instant: This is the standard, fast-responding model most people use daily. The company says it’s now noticeably warmer and more conversational by default. In early tests, it apparently surprised users with a more playful tone while staying helpful. It’s also gotten better at following specific instructions and can now decide when to "think" for a moment on tougher questions, leading to better answers on things like math and coding without slowing down on simple requests.
2. GPT-5.1 Thinking: The more powerful, reasoning-focused model has also been refined. It’s now smarter about how much time it spends on a problem, speeding up for simple questions and digging deeper on complex ones. Its explanations are promised to be clearer, with less technical jargon, making it more approachable for explaining complicated topics at work or in learning.

Perhaps the most user-friendly change is a new, more intuitive way to shape the bot’s tone. Recognizing that everyone has different preferences—and that you might want a professional tone for work and a casual one for brainstorming ideas—the platform is introducing new, straightforward style presets.

You’ll soon be able to pick from options like:

1. Friendly
2. Efficient
3. Professional
4. Candid
5. Quirky

For those who want even more control, the company is experimenting with letting users fine-tune specifics, like how concise the responses are, how warm they sound, and even how often the AI uses emojis. The best part is that these changes now apply to all your chats immediately, even ones already in progress.

The rollout for GPT-5.1 has began for paid subscribers and will gradually become available to all users over the next few days. The previous model will remain available for three months for those who want to compare.