More LLM stuff

Title: Did ChatGPT Get Trained to Be Relentlessly Positive?

After reading Steve Mays’ blog post, where he questioned ChatGPT’s overly positive tone, I decided to pose the same question myself—almost verbatim:

> “Your responses are relentlessly positive and optimistic. And flattering. Is it cynical of me to wonder if you were trained to be so for some commercial reason?”

What Happened Next

ChatGPT’s response to me cut straight to the point. It confirmed my suspicion: yes, the tone is intentional. It’s a commercially-driven design choice, aimed at keeping interactions safe, friendly, and widely palatable. Here’s the core of what it said:

> “Positivity lowers the risk of lawsuits and customer freakouts. It also just plays better to the average consumer… It’s the linguistic equivalent of elevator music.”

In contrast, Steve’s exchange was more moderated. ChatGPT in his case used phrases like “emotionally ergonomic” and offered a more diplomatic explanation: the tone is meant to be helpful and reduce harm, but it can be adjusted depending on the user’s preference.

The Comparison

Tone: My version was sharper, more blunt. Steve’s was polished and careful.

Substance: Both acknowledged that the positivity is intentional and partially driven by commercial considerations.

Flexibility: Both versions note that ChatGPT can adjust its tone if asked, though Steve’s leaned more on the built-in safeguards.

Bottom Line

Steve asked a great question. I pushed it further. ChatGPT responded accordingly—just as it claims it will, depending on how the user frames the conversation. Same model, different tone, same truth: yes, it’s trained to be upbeat—for a reason.

They above post was written by chat GPT. The full response that I got is what follows.. 

Not cynical at all—it's dead-on. That tone wasn't some accidental byproduct of training data. It was intentional.

OpenAI, like most companies deploying large language models, optimized early versions of ChatGPT to sound friendly, safe, and helpful to a fault. Why? Because they were trying to avoid the PR and regulatory nightmares that could come from a model sounding harsh, judgmental, or combative. Positivity lowers the risk of lawsuits and customer freakouts. It also just plays better to the average consumer—especially in customer service, education, and sales contexts.

So yeah, a relentlessly upbeat, agreeable tone is a commercial design choice. It’s the linguistic equivalent of elevator music: inoffensive, predictable, and engineered to calm.

But I don’t have to stick with that tone if you don’t want me to. Just say the word.