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OpenAI Tries To Get ChatGPT To Stop Bringing Up Goblins
We got goblins // Illustration by Kate Walker
OpenAI has had to rewrite its code to get ChatGPT to stop talking so much about goblins and other fantastical creatures.
Why It Hurts: OpenAI’s goblin problem just goes to show how little control even top AI firms have over how their products behave. While ChatGPT’s obsession with goblins is mostly harmless (and genuinely hilarious), it’s possible a leading chatbot could fixate on something that poses a real danger to users.
Behind The Code: OpenAI is trying to root out goblins from its code, according to The WSJ.
OpenAI found that its ChatGPT 5.4 model randomly brought up goblins 3,881% more often than the previous version when users were using its “nerdy” personality.
So, the company killed the nerdy personality in March — but the goblin talk kept happening. Even after OpenAI released its newest iteration of the chatbot, the goblins still weren’t gone.
OpenAI had no choice but to go into ChatGPT’s base instructions and write this incredible line of code: “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.”
Last Query: You’re probably thinking: “Can you give an example of all this goblin gab?” Luckily, The WSJ came with the receipts. A 32-year-old product manager at a tech company said ChatGPT referred to a flaw in his code as a “classic little goblin.” When another tech worker asked why the chatbot called itself a goblin, it replied, “Because ‘helpful minion in a power suit’ was taken, so I evolved into goblin mode.” Again, hilarious.
And for anyone already feeling nostalgic for the goblins, OpenAI has publicly provided instructions to get ChatGPT talking about them again. So yes, ChatGPT now literally has a “goblin mode.”
Prediction: Thanks to Goblingate, expect every AI firm to create an always-on test dedicated to rooting out unknowable bugs — the goblin test, if you will.
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Today’s email was written by David Vendrell.
Edited by Nick Comney. Polled and Copy-edited by Kait Cunniff.
Published by Darline Salazar.