Some ChatGPT users have noticed a strange phenomenon recently: Occasionally, the chatbot refers to them by name as it reasons through problems. That wasn\u2019t the default behavior previously, and several users claim ChatGPT is mentioning their names despite never having been told what to call them.<\/p>\n
Reviews are mixed. One user, software developer and AI enthusiast Simon Willison<\/a>, called the feature \u201ccreepy and unnecessary.\u201d Another developer, Nick Dobos, said<\/a> he \u201chated it.\u201d A cursory search of X turns up scores of users<\/a> confused by \u2014 and wary of \u2014 ChatGPT\u2019s first-name basis behavior.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s like a teacher keeps calling my name, LOL,\u201d wrote one user<\/a>. \u201cYeah, I don\u2019t like it.\u201d<\/p>\n Does anyone LIKE the thing where o3 uses your name in its chain of thought, as opposed to finding it creepy and unnecessary? pic.twitter.com\/lYRby6BK6J<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Simon Willison (@simonw) April 17, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n It\u2019s not clear when, exactly, the change happened, or whether it\u2019s related to ChatGPT\u2019s upgraded \u201cmemory\u201d feature<\/a> that lets the chatbot draw on past chats to personalize its responses. Some users on X say ChatGPT began calling them by their names even though they\u2019d disabled memory and related personalization settings.<\/p>\n OpenAI hasn\u2019t responded to TechCrunch\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n It feels weird to see your own name in the model thoughts. Is there any reason to add that? Will it make it better or just make more errors as I did in my github repos? @OpenAI<\/a> o4-mini-high, is it really using that in the custom prompt? pic.twitter.com\/j1Vv7arBx4<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Debasish Pattanayak (@drdebmath) April 16, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n In any event, the blowback illustrates the uncanny valley OpenAI might struggle to overcome in its efforts to make ChatGPT more \u201cpersonal\u201d for the people who use it. Last week, the company\u2019s CEO, Sam Altman, hinted at AI systems that \u201cget to know you over your life\u201d to become \u201cextremely useful and personalized.\u201d But judging by this latest wave of reactions, not everyone\u2019s sold on the idea.<\/p>\n An article<\/a> published by The Valens Clinic, a psychiatry office in Dubai, may shed some light on the visceral reactions to ChatGPT\u2019s name use. Names convey intimacy. But when a person \u2014 or chatbot, as the case may be \u2014 uses a name a lot, it comes across as inauthentic.<\/p>\n \u201cUsing an individual\u2019s name when addressing them directly is a powerful relationship-developing strategy,\u201d writes Valens. \u201cIt denotes acceptance and admiration. However, undesirable or extravagant use can be looked at as fake and invasive.\u201d<\/p>\n In a similar vein, perhaps another reason many people don\u2019t want ChatGPT using their name is that it feels ham-fisted \u2014 a clumsy attempt at anthropomorphizing an emotionless bot. In the same way that most folks wouldn\u2019t want their toaster calling them by their name, they don\u2019t want ChatGPT to \u201cpretend\u201d it understands a name\u2019s significance. <\/p>\n This reporter certainly found it disquieting when o3 in ChatGPT earlier this week said it was doing research for \u201cKyle.\u201d (As of Friday, the change seemingly had been reverted; o3 called me \u201cuser.\u201d) It had the opposite of the intended effect \u2014 poking holes in the illusion that the underlying models are anything more than programmable, synthetic things.<\/p>\n\n
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