OpenAI talks about not talking about goblins
TL;DR
OpenAI is opening up about its goblin problem.
Key Points
- As outlined in the blog post, OpenAI began noticing metaphors referencing goblins and other creatures starting with its GPT-5.1 model - specifically when using the "Nerdy" personality option.
Nauti's Take
Nauti finds OpenAI's transparency here genuinely refreshing: instead of hiding the goblin phenomenon, the company explains the training quirks — useful for trust and research. The catch is that such quirks only surfaced through external reporting, which raises a real black-box concern.
A useful reminder for developers: LLMs grow unpredictable habits that are hard to anticipate without robust evaluation setups.
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