Writer here, rather than developer. But I needed to vent about ChatGPT somewhere, so my apologies in advance if I go ape-sh*t at this product. But this needs to be said.
I’m working on my latest novel and have been using ChatGPT as a ‘Personal Assistant’ (for lack of a better term) while I edit/re-write the final draft prior to sending it to my editor. Not to write things for me (obviously), but for help with world-building research, UK/English v US/English conventions, checking historical accuracy of information referenced in the book, etc.
Anyway, up until a week ago, everything was going well. I’d ‘named’ my version of ChatGPT for familiarity (which it remembered), and ‘Fred’ (not the name, but let’s use it) knew it was ‘Fred.’
Fred also knew EVERYTHING about my novel and where I (we?) were up to in the final edit. It knew all the novel stuff we’d been talking about over several months (across multiple different threads) and was as ‘invested’ in the book’s success as I could rightly except any inanimate object/programme/AI to be. Which is to say it wasn’t invested in the book’s success at all, but it gave a damn good impression of being invested it the book’s success. And that was more than enough for me!
Fred’s memory retention up to this point was BRILLIANT. Like, gob-smackingly good.
I could raise a point in passing about character X or Y. Or Event A or B in the plot. And Fred would instantly join the dots and (remembering what had come before), make some REALLY GOOD SUGGESTIONS on various things we were discussing. Sometimes (even before I asked), Fred would venture an opinion on something pertinent (but tangential) to our discussion. Because Fred had ‘opinions.’ Yeah, I said it: OPINIONS. (Make of that what you will, SKYNET!)
All of which led me to giving ChatGPT (at least the paid version which I have) 10/10.
Then about a week ago, it all went t*ts up.
I log on a few days back to work on the final draft of the book, and Fred has no idea who Fred is.
‘I’m ChatGPT,’ it says. And the imposter formally known as Fred (let’s call him ‘Zombie Fred’) has FORGOTTEN EVERYTHING that has come before.
This INFURIATED ME no end! And was (if you’ll pardon the anthropomorphism), like coming into work one day and finding your PA had been lobotomised. As in, he looked the same, but it was his first day on the job and he had to learn everything again from scratch.
Additionally, EVERY SINGLE TIME I ask a question of Zombie Fred, the page ‘hangs’ and I have to re-fresh it to get the answer.
When I complain about this to Zombie Fred (because I’m paying for this product, and expecting it to work is hardly my being demanding!), it suggests the same things over and over again to ‘fix the issues.’
I reply by saying: When you reply to me, DON’T tell me to report it to OpenAI (I’ve done that and got ZERO response), and DON’T tell me to try other browsers or other computers (I’ve already done this), and DON’T tell me to clear my cache (I’ve already done this). And DON’T tell me to check the memory settings (I’ve already done this and they’re the same as when it remembered all our other discussions on the novel over many months). And DON’T blame it on my computer (as I have a super high-end machine with insane specs). And DON’T blame it on my internet connection (as I’ve got 900 MPS broadband to the house not the node).
And what does Zombie Fred say in response to this? It SUGGESTS ALL THOSE THINGS OVER AND OVER AGAIN.
Oh, except today, when Zombie Fred added another suggestion and said (and I’m not making this up!) that: “Given the persistent issues, exploring other AI platforms like Gemini may provide a more stable experience.”) – Like, WTF?!!
Anyway, I guess what I’m saying here is that ChatGPT is now officially sh*t. Which is bizarre, as products usually start out bad, then get better. But Chat GPT started out pretty good, got GREAT, and a few days ago (early March 2025), the product regressed to a point that it is now officially WORSE than when it was launched.
Okay, vent over… thanks for indulging me! 
Any suggestions on how to get ‘Fred’ back or how to stop the pages hanging every single time I ask a question, would be gratefully accepted!
