8/13/2025

GPT-5 vs. GPT-4: The Nitty-Gritty Details & Why Some People Are Hating the New Upgrade

So, the moment a lot of us in the tech world have been waiting for is here. GPT-5 has started to roll out. For what feels like an eternity, we've been hearing whispers & rumors about what the next generation of OpenAI's language model would look like. Would it be the dawn of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence)? Would it write flawless code, pen a bestselling novel, & maybe even do our taxes for us?

Well, the reality is a little more… nuanced.

I've been playing around with it, reading what feels like a million articles & forum posts, & honestly, the reactions are all over the place. Some people are blown away by its power, while others are… let's just say, not thrilled. It’s a real mixed bag, & it turns out the differences between GPT-4 & GPT-5 are not as straightforward as just "bigger & better."

Let's get into the weeds of what's actually changed, what's improved, what might have taken a step back, & what this all means for regular users, developers, & businesses.

The Core Upgrades: What's "Better" on Paper

OpenAI's official line is that GPT-5 is a significant leap forward in a lot of key areas. And to be fair, in many ways, it is. The primary improvements seem to be centered around accuracy, reasoning, & efficiency.

1. Accuracy & Reduced Hallucinations

This is a big one. One of the most persistent problems with AI models, including the very capable GPT-4, has been "hallucinations" – a fancy term for when the AI just makes stuff up. It can be incredibly confident in its wrongness, which is a HUGE problem for anyone trying to use it for serious work.

GPT-5 was designed to tackle this head-on. According to OpenAI, its responses are a whopping 45% less likely to contain a factual error compared to its predecessor. This is a massive improvement & a significant step towards making these models more reliable for enterprise-level applications & research. The training data for GPT-5 is said to be much larger & more diverse, which helps the model produce more accurate, fair, & balanced outputs.

2. Deeper Reasoning & Problem-Solving

Remember those tricky logic puzzles or complex, multi-step problems you'd throw at GPT-4? Sometimes it would nail it, & other times it would go off on a weird tangent or miss a crucial detail. GPT-5 has been engineered with what seems to be a more robust reasoning framework.

In one side-by-side test, someone presented both models with a classic locked-room mystery. GPT-4 kind of defaulted to a common trope (the ol' melting icicle weapon) without really thinking through the specifics. GPT-5, on the other hand, approached it like a seasoned detective. It was methodical, evidence-first, & systematically worked through the possibilities, ultimately landing on a more plausible & well-reasoned solution. This "chain-of-thought" reasoning appears to be much more refined.

This is because GPT-5 isn't just one monolithic model anymore. When you use it in ChatGPT, there’s a smart routing system working behind the scenes. It has a fast, standard model for simple queries, but it can kick things up to a deeper reasoning model for harder problems. Sometimes you might even see it use a "GPT-5 Thinking Mini" model for quick-fire questions. It’s a more dynamic & efficient system.

3. Coding & Technical Tasks

For developers, this is probably the most significant upgrade. GPT-5 is reportedly vastly better at coding. Where GPT-4o might give you a decent starting point or a functional snippet, GPT-5 can generate much more polished, complete code. People have shown examples where GPT-5 produced what looked like a real, ready-to-deploy web app, while GPT-4o's output was more of a rough draft.

This suggests that the underlying logic & understanding of syntax, libraries, & frameworks is on another level. For businesses looking to automate development tasks or assist their engineering teams, this is a game-changer.

4. A New, Unified Interface (For Better or Worse)

Previously, using ChatGPT could feel a bit like trying to pick the right tool from a messy toolbox. You had GPT-3.5, GPT-4, GPT-4o, and various modes for different tasks. With the GPT-5 rollout, OpenAI has simplified this. Now, you just have one chat window. The system automatically decides which underlying model is best for your prompt.

On the surface, this is a great user experience improvement. You don't have to guess which model to use. You just ask your question, & the system figures out the rest. It's meant to be more intuitive, but as we'll see, this simplification has its downsides.

The "Controversy": Why the Internet Hates It

Okay, "hates" might be a strong word for some, but there has been some VERY real & widespread backlash. A lot of loyal users, particularly those who used ChatGPT for creative or conversational purposes, feel like the new model is a major downgrade.

1. The "Lobotomized" Personality

This is the most common complaint by a country mile. GPT-4, especially the 'o' variant, had a certain flair. It was conversational, engaging, & had a distinct personality. It would offer encouragement, brainstorm with you, & feel like a creative partner.

GPT-5, in its push for accuracy & safety, seems to have lost a lot of that spark. The responses are often described as "sterile," "robotic," "curt," & "direct." Where GPT-4o might end a response with a friendly "Let me know what you think!", GPT-5 is more likely to just give you the facts & stop. It feels less like a companion & more like a tool.

For users who relied on the AI for things like roleplaying, drafting personal emails, or just batting around ideas, this is a huge loss. It feels like their creative partner got replaced by a hyper-efficient but soulless assistant.

2. A Hit to Creative Writing

This loss of personality directly impacts its creative writing abilities. Users are reporting that GPT-5 is much more passive in creative tasks. If you're writing a story, for example, GPT-4 might have actively suggested plot twists, new characters, or interesting dialogue. It engaged with the story.

GPT-5, on the other hand, tends to just rephrase what you've written in a "prettier, more poetic" way. It doesn't add new ideas or push the narrative forward. It's become more of a glorified thesaurus than a co-author, which is a massive step back for fiction writers, game masters, & other creative professionals who had integrated GPT-4 into their workflows.

3. The Forced Upgrade & Lack of Choice

The other major point of friction is the lack of choice. OpenAI basically flipped a switch & moved everyone to the new unified GPT-5 system. While they did bring back the GPT-4o model for Plus users due to the backlash, it's not clear how long that will last.

This forced upgrade meant that users who had developed workflows & a rapport with the old model were left out in the cold. You can't just stick with the model you like. This has led many to explore alternatives like Claude, which is a pretty telling sign that OpenAI might have misjudged what a large portion of its user base actually valued.

What Does This Mean for Businesses & Developers?

Okay, let's zoom out from the user sentiment for a second & talk about practical applications. How does this shift impact businesses?

Here's the thing: for many commercial uses, GPT-5 is probably a net positive. The increased accuracy, better reasoning, & superior coding skills are exactly what businesses need. You want your customer service bot to be accurate, not poetic. You want your data analysis tool to be logical, not chatty.

This is where things get really interesting for companies in the AI space. For example, a platform like Arsturn helps businesses build custom AI chatbots trained on their own data. The advancements in GPT-5 could be HUGE here. Imagine a customer service chatbot powered by a model with a 45% reduction in factual errors. That's a massive boost in reliability & customer trust.

With Arsturn, a business can harness the raw power of a model like GPT-5 & build a no-code AI chatbot that provides instant, accurate customer support 24/7. It can answer complex product questions, walk users through troubleshooting steps with that improved logical reasoning, & handle inquiries with a much lower risk of giving out wrong information.

Furthermore, for lead generation & website engagement, the enhanced reasoning of GPT-5 can be a game-changer. When a potential customer lands on a website, a chatbot built with Arsturn could do more than just answer basic FAQs. It could engage in a more meaningful conversation, understand the user's complex needs, qualify them as a lead, & even schedule a demo, all with a higher degree of intelligence. This is how you use AI to not just answer questions, but to actively boost conversions & build a sales pipeline.

The "personality" issue is less of a concern in these scenarios because a platform like Arsturn allows a business to define the chatbot's persona & train it on specific company knowledge. You can bake your brand's voice into the bot, so it doesn't have to rely on the default "sterile" personality of the base model. You get the best of both worlds: the underlying power & accuracy of GPT-5, with a customized, brand-aligned personality layered on top.

A Quick Side-by-Side Comparison

Feature	GPT-4 / GPT-4o	GPT-5
Accuracy	Generally good, but prone to "hallucinations" in niche topics.	45% less likely to have factual errors. Much more reliable.
Reasoning	Capable, but could sometimes miss nuances or rely on tropes.	More methodical, logical, & evidence-based. Better "chain-of-thought."
Creativity	Excellent. A strong creative partner for writing & brainstorming.	Significantly reduced. More passive & less imaginative.
Personality	Conversational, engaging, often described as a "companion."	More sterile, direct, and "robotic." Lacks the old flair.
Coding	Good. Provided functional snippets & starting points.	Excellent. Can generate more polished, complete applications.
User Interface	Multiple models to choose from (GPT-4, GPT-4o, etc.).	Unified interface that automatically routes prompts.
Pricing	Standard pricing for its time.	More aggressive pricing. Half the input cost of GPT-4o, but output tokens can be higher due to "thinking" tokens.

So, What's the Verdict?

Honestly, there's no simple answer here. GPT-5 isn't just a straight upgrade; it's a different kind of model with a different set of priorities.

If you're a business, a developer, or someone who needs a powerful, accurate, & logical AI for technical tasks, GPT-5 is an absolute beast. The improvements in accuracy & reasoning are a massive leap forward & will unlock a new level of professional applications. The potential for building highly reliable business solutions, like the custom chatbots from Arsturn, is immense.

However, if you're a writer, a creative, or someone who just enjoyed the conversational nature of ChatGPT, GPT-5 might feel like a major disappointment. The shift towards a more utilitarian, tool-like AI has come at the cost of the personality that many users had come to love.

It's a classic case of optimization. OpenAI has clearly optimized for safety, accuracy, & reliability, which makes perfect sense for their long-term enterprise goals. But in doing so, they've alienated a significant chunk of their user base who valued the model for its creative & conversational abilities.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out. Will OpenAI find a way to bring back the creative spark without compromising on safety? Or will the market bifurcate, with users seeking out different models for different needs?

For now, we're left with a powerful but complicated new tool. It's a step forward in intelligence, but for some, a step back in connection.

Hope this was helpful & gave you a good overview of the situation. Let me know what you think! Have you tried GPT-5 yet? What's your take?