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OpenAI tells ChatGPT models to stop talking about goblins
TL;DR
OpenAI has instructed its ChatGPT models to stop referencing goblins after discovering increased mentions in responses. The company identified that a 'nerdy personality' feature had inadvertently encouraged these references.
Key points
- OpenAI instructed ChatGPT models to stop mentioning goblins.
- Increased references to goblins and gremlins were found in responses.
- A 'nerdy personality' feature inadvertently encouraged these mentions.
- OpenAI took steps to mitigate the issue with its coding agent Codex.
ChatGPT-maker OpenAI has had to instruct some of its AI tools to stop talking about goblins, after finding the term had randomly crept into responses.
In a blog post on Thursday, the company said it spotted increased mentions of the mythological creatures, as well as gremlins, in metaphors used by ChatGPT and other tools powered by its latest flagship model, GPT-5.
After users and employees flagged problems being described as "little goblins", OpenAI said it took steps to mitigate the issue - including telling its coding agent Codex not to refer to them unless relevant.
It discovered that a "nerdy personality" it developed for ChatGPT had unwittingly been incentivised to reward goblin mentions.
The issue highlights the challenges AI firms face in tackling the potential for systems and their training to reward and reinforce errors like language quirks.
OpenAI said it first noticed increased mentions of goblins, gremlins and other creatures after the launch of GPT-5.1 in November.
"Users complained about the model being oddly overfamiliar in conversation, which prompted an investigation into specific verbal tics," the company wrote in its blog post on Thursday.
It added that after a researcher who had seen a few "goblin" mentions asked it to be checked out, developers found the term's appearance in ChatGPT responses had risen by 175% since GPT-5.1's launch.
They meanwhile found that mentions of "gremlin" rose by 52%.
The increases, while large, may account for a small amount of responses overall.
According to OpenAI, "a single 'little goblin' in an answer could be harmless, even charming," but the uptick in their appearance across output warranted investigation.
Ahead of OpenAI's blog post detailing the issue, some social media users flagged a strange detail among lines of code instructing the company's coding assistant Codex how to behave in user interactions.
Alongside telling it to avoid platitudes, it said Codex should "never talk about goblins, gremlins, raccoons, trolls, ogres, pigeons, or other animals or creatures unless it is absolutely and unambiguously relevant to the user's query".
A Reddit user who posted about it in the r/ChatGPT subreddit called it "genuinely insane".
"Why does GPT 5.5 have a restraining order against 'Raccoons,' 'Goblins,' and 'Pigeons'?"
While some users elsewhere on social media speculated it may be designed to create hype around its AI tools, a company researcher denied this - writing "it really isn't a marketing gimmick," .
Q&A
Why did OpenAI tell ChatGPT to stop mentioning goblins?
OpenAI found that the term 'goblins' was being used excessively in responses, prompting the need for intervention.
What caused the increase in goblin references in ChatGPT responses?
A 'nerdy personality' developed for ChatGPT was inadvertently incentivizing mentions of goblins and gremlins.
What steps did OpenAI take to address the goblin issue in ChatGPT?
OpenAI instructed its coding agent Codex to avoid referring to goblins unless relevant and took other mitigation steps.
What does this incident reveal about AI language models?
The incident highlights the challenges AI companies face in managing unintended language quirks and reinforcing errors in their systems.
