steveanderson.digital

Some notes on personality changes in OpenAI’s ChatGPT:

Regarding the “her” tweet for GPT-4o, or whatever a post in X is:

Some users may be repelled by them. But many will come to love and appreciate the new breed of A.I. assistants — and some will inevitably fall in love, as Theodore does.
May 14, 2024 - The New York Times, A.I.'s 'Her' Era Has Arrived

For others, though, the loss felt personal. They developed an affinity for the GPT-4o persona, or the o3 persona, and suddenly felt bereft. That the loss came without warning, and with seemingly no recourse, only worsened the sting.
August 11, 2025 - Platformer, Three big lessons from the GPT-5 backlash

The release follows complaints earlier this year that its previous models were excessively cheerful and sycophantic, along with an opposing controversy among users over how OpenAI modified the default GPT-5 output style after several suicide lawsuits.
...the company is offering eight preset options, including Professional, Friendly, Candid, Quirky, Efficient, Cynical, and Nerdy, alongside a Default setting.
November 12, 2025 - Ars Technica, OpenAI walks a tricky tightrope with GPT-5.1’s eight new personalities

...which is just tell me what you want to tell me. And you don't have to pretend you're being nice to me. You don't have to compliment me.
November 18, 2025 - Dan Frommer on The Talk Show with John Gruber podcast, #434: 'Knee-Jerk Contrarian,' with Dan Frommer (1:21:45)

There seems to be a consistent problem with “glaze." It seems, though, that glaze is a purposeful attribute – the problem isn’t that there is glaze, it’s that it glazes “too much.”

Dan Frommer also mentions in the podcast (1:25:43), “I try to use the default settings for almost everything, just so I feel like I’m experiencing technology the way that, like, most people are experiencing it.” And I agree, the default setting, the vanilla, can be really interesting. Vanilla might seem basic, but it’s a very difficult thing to do just right.

I came across this post at kottke.org, Silicon Doodles & Microchip Art. It’s quite the meeting of analog and digital!

The Wile E. Coyote image caught my eye, especially in reference to my previous post, Coyote Time and Empathetic Design.

References from the kottke.org link above:

• NYT: Hidden Inside Our Electronics, Tiny Doodles From Another Era
• NPR: A new generation is uncovering the tiny doodles left by engineers on old microchips

Welcome once again — once again...your shell repayment is coming up.

I never played the 1990s Marathon video game on Apple, but the new Marathon game (which is delayed) looks promising.

Even better than the gameplay trailer, is the cinematic trailer below. It’s mesmerizing visually, and philosophically complex.

It means a lot, because it's hard and cruel to be a professional cyclist, you suffer a lot in preparations. You sacrifice your life, your family. You do everything you can to get here ready, and then after a couple of days you realize that everyone is just so incredibly strong...I don't often win because I'm not as strong as the others, but I can keep cool and focus in the crucial moments...the whole day, I just wanted to give my best...every single rider at this moment would deserve a win...I wish that everyone could win a Tour de France stage, but it's just not possible, and that's cruel, no?

With the 2025 Tour de France in the rearview mirror, an emotional interview with Matej Mohorič after winning Stage 19 of the 2023 Tour de France. We looked for him in the paddock at Stage 17 in 2024 (Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux à Superdévoluy) but it was so blistering hot and humid that the riders stayed in the busses until it was time to race. The level of performance in professional cycling is off the charts, but the empathy and honesty of Matej are hard to come by – definitely one for Gino Mäder!

I am Account No. 327-94-33AT, and I would like a word with your computer.

Frustration with computers may be familiar to us now, but in the late 1960s and early 1970s it reached a new level.

The general public was aware that computers, or “mainframes,” were impacting their lives, but they had little recourse and no access to their own information within computerized systems. Which isn’t far removed from the present, actually, considering search engines, social media, and AI.

It’s interesting that the man wielding the sledgehammer doesn’t give his name – he’s simply a number in the eyes of the computer.

The cartoon is from the book (with accompanying CDs of image files), The Complete Cartoons of The New Yorker, by Robert Mankoff and David Remnick, 2004.

Such great energy at the final stage of the 2025 Tour de France!

This Instagram post really captures the connection between the riders and the crowd at The Basilica of Sacré Cœur de Montmartre.

POV: Watching the Tour de France in Paris (the sound is great)

The famously secretive iPhone maker has zero — and we mean zero — patience with product leaks. (1)

I was listening to The Talk Show with John Gruber and guest Jason Snell, and they mentioned the recent news about Jon Prosser being sued by Apple for the alleged theft of trade secrets related to iOS 26.

This reminded me of the 2017 news story about an Apple engineer’s daughter filming the iPhone X on a visit to Apple Park in Cupertino.

And of course, there was also the 2010 scandal of a prototype iPhone 4 being left in a bar:

• How Apple Lost the iPhone 4
• Lost iPhone 4 prototype sellers escape jail

In his 2010 WWDC keynote address, Steve Jobs announced the iPhone 4 and remarked, “Now…stop me if you’ve already seen this,” to which the audience knowingly laughed.

Even with Apple’s renewed focus on preventing leaks, they still seem to be in the ether. I wonder if Apple’s expansion of production to other countries will make preventing leaks more difficult. At times, however, some of the info seems to be streaming from in and around Cupertino. Personally, I just like to wait and see what Apple announces (and actually ships) before making a decision to upgrade.

Many researchers shudder at the phrase "artificial intelligence." Its anthropomorphic overtones, they say, often arouse irrelevant emotional responses -- i.e., in people who think it sacrilegious to try to imitate the brain.

Reference: “Will the Computer Outwit Man?”, Gilbert Burck, The Boundless Age of the Computer, Part VI, Fortune, Vol. LXX, No. 4, October 1964. Quote in footnote on page 120. Cartoon on page 121 by Nicholas Solovioff.

Instagram post with great photos from Thymen Arensman, after his Stage 19 win at the 2025 Tour de France.

Another great ride by Thymen Arensman today! It’s his second stage win in the 2025 Tour de France.

And such a heartfelt post-race interview:

It's Tadej and Jonas, and everybody knows they are the strongest in the world -- they are like, almost aliens. And just as a human, I still want to try and beat them. I just can't believe I beat them today.