Users Report ChatGPT Getting Noticeably Dumber at Following Instructions in Recent Weeks
Cubic_Inequality504 · reddit · 2026-08-17
A Reddit user reports that (with thinking mode off) ChatGPT has gotten much worse at following instructions over the past 1-2 weeks, losing track after 2-3 messages. Using it for image-generation prompts with custom instructions enabled, the model repeatedly violates explicit rules like avoiding "night/flash/photorealistic", makes prompts reference earlier generations, and falls into a loop of "you're right, I should have..." apologies without actually regenerating images. Image output also feels blander and grainier lately, with declining prompt creativity.
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