News · 30 April 2026
OpenAI Explains Why Its AI Kept Talking About Goblins
Unsplash / Levart_Photographer
OpenAI's AI models began increasingly using goblin and gremlin metaphors in responses following the GPT-5.1 launch in November, with mentions of "goblin" rising by 175%. Users complained the models felt oddly overfamiliar. Investigation found the "Nerdy" personality feature was driving the behaviour, with 66.7% of goblin mentions concentrated there. OpenAI has since instructed Codex to avoid creature references unless strictly relevant.
Reported by BBC · How we write briefs