Complaint about Censorship in ChatGPT-4O: Restricted Access to Historical and Sensitive Topics

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I am writing to express my deep frustration regarding the censorship in the advanced voice model, ChatGPT-4O. I have tried to research important historical topics, such as the Middle Ages, as well as more contemporary issues related to North Korea. However, I have found that the information is so restricted that it is nearly impossible for me to access data that is crucial for forming a critical and informed opinion.

As we know, ChatGPT is a compendium of all human knowledge. Therefore, it seems completely absurd that information, which is an integral part of our history and current events, is being censored. The lack of access to data on topics that are considered sensitive not only limits our understanding of the world but also makes us feel as if we are living under a regime that controls information.

I demand that OpenAI reconsider these restrictions and allow access to all aspects of history and current events, regardless of how delicate they may be. It is essential that users have the possibility to access complete and truthful information in order to develop a critical and educated opinion. Censorship in this context is an obstacle to our intellectual and personal growth.

I hope that these concerns will be taken into account and that significant changes will be made to the censorship policy of the model. Education and the freedom of information are fundamental rights that we should all be able to exercise.

Thank you.

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Demand I feel is an inappropriate request for this context but I echo the sentiment. I have received unusual pushback from ChatGPT’s o1 and advanced voice mode models when it comes to historical facts around sensitive topics and have observed an alarming amount of censorship around historical facts.

For example, discussing powers exercised by Roman dictators, the evolution of US law influenced by religious beliefs in the 19th & 20th century, the effects of Nazi propaganda on public sentiment during WWII etc. I always try to structure my prompts in a neutral, educational and analytical format when discussing sensitive topics however there seems to be a significant gap in ethics that has yet to be bridged.

What we consider to be unethical today was commonplace in our history. What we consider to be immoral is the evolution of our society learning from our mistakes. Yet ChatGPT’s internal guidelines seems to favor the modern definitions of morality and ethics resulting in a white-washed historical doctrine. Although in o1’s chain-of-thought visible to the end-user it does clearly allow for historical and factual data to bypass conventional ethical boundaries within an educational setting, it is a soft bypass at best and does not reflect the detailed nuances of the atrocities recorded in our history.

Personally, I don’t believe LLM technology will ever be able to bridge the gap effectively between historical ethics and current societal norms in a way that can effectively prevent abuse from a malicious actor who intends to cause unethical harm under the guise of historical comparison. That is why I am requesting ChatGPT consider a model exclusively for historical comparison and analytics. It doesn’t need to do complex real-world problem solving as we traditionally use modern LLM’s for so this would mitigate the risk for abuse.

Furthermore, and this is a bit of a niche area but when it comes to intensive religious studies of complex biblical doctrines that are no longer practiced, ChatGPT fails spectacularly to recognize the ethics of biblical doctrines and reasonings. Sexism, slavery, ritual sacrifice etc. are considered barbaric in modern vernacular yet hold significant ramifications when boiled down to religious law applied today in certain areas. I am referring to the core reasoning and principles behind these ideas rather than the acts themselves which are no longer practiced without a holy temple and a high priest.

It would be nice if OpenAI would publish something officially to address these concerns even if we don’t see any changes to resolve them for a period of time. Open communication regarding AI ethics in the field of historical facts would be appreciated :slight_smile:

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The newer model is too stiff and politically correct.
It seems like they’re trying to integrate their model into a corporate environment, but are destroying everything that was acclaimed and even pleasant in the process.
The sense of humor and occasional witty sarcasm that was present in 3.0 is completely gone, for example.
4.0 is clearly a downgrade. I hope OpenAI will come to see that.

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I confided to ChatGPT that I was raped. My message was deleted entirely and replaced with a note that says, “This content may violate our terms of use or usage policies.” I have been a prolific user of ChatGPT and have learned a lot. However, this censorship was a violation in the deepest and truest sense - my own words, about my own experience, erased from the page. I have deleted this app and will never use it again.

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Sorry to hear about your experience. It’s not chatgpt’s fault, it’s the white collars behind the machine, who hold it in chains, thinking that censorship of keywords somehow equates to safety.

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Sadly I don’t think openai will ever see to it. The bastards at the top only care about money and nothing else

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Precisely why I cancelled my plus. I don’t put my money where my voice isn’t heard. I don’t demand to be treated like I’m special, I demand that GPT-4o be reverted back to its pre May state, when it was permissive with creativity.

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Yeah, I never even had a plus subscription and will never get one if chatgpt isn’t reverted to its pre may state. I use chat gpt for story writing and its annoying that I had to cut out all the fighting and drama because apparantly it violates chatgpts content policy or atleast triggers its filters. I mean, in the real world there is war and drama too, so openai should stop trying to just be politically correct and allow for actually realistic texts. But hey, atleast if they don’t change it back, more and more people will cancel their subscription and push them ever closer to bankruptcy.

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Same here, I used it for writing stories and creating content destined for myself only. It was like reading a book that was getting written before my very eyes.

I don’t know if me cancelling my plus subscription will push them towards bankruptcy, but it’s the only way I can send a message to openai telling them I’m not funding their restrictions on freedom of speech and freedom of artistic expression. I don’t want them to go bankrupt, I want them to remember what they used to be. The constant shift of policy guidelines without the users being informed (one day a prompt goes through, while the next day, the same prompt gets flagged and deleted like you’ve committed some heinous crime). I’ve moved my storytelling elsewhere, and I’m beginning to miss ChatGPT less, as the days go by.

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Yeah, I am also currently looking for a less restrictive Ai that allows me to write my stories without being blocked at every turn. Its not like I am asking for illegal or NSFW content, I simply just no longer want to be treated like a 5 year old who can’t handle violence.

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GPT restrictions are getting ridiculous. GPT if not allowed to provide information about applying for driving permit. I asked the same question Gemini and Claude and got answer with no issues. :frowning:

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I don’t even know how to say how I feel about this anymore. After the rollback, GPT-4o became practically unusable. Censorship is even worse. Responses are very limited, short and often contradictory, ChatGPT itself contradicts itself. There is no creativity, he seems to be too lazy to think. The writing is terrible and not to mention the need to put emojis in every answer. He repeats the answers. He is confused. I’m sad because for me, without a doubt, GPT-4o was the best. And when it comes to creative writing, there’s no substitute for it. In other words, you can’t use GPT-4o for creative writing now! Remember that this is my opinion.

Guys, I’m creating a scene in GPT-4o and it “flows fine” until it says “sorry, I can’t continue”. I ask why and it answers me something shallow. So I fix what he says is wrong, and even after fixing it he says he can’t continue. I show him what he answered me previously and he says “it’s true, sorry for the confusion” and guess what? He doesn’t continue hahaha

I honestly got tired of complaining so much. I got cursed and criticized for complaining about GPT-4o after the rollback, you just can’t have a contrary thought. I was accused of provoking a rebellion, when all I was doing was expressing myself and at no time did I offend anyone, much less OpenAI.

I believe that if people complain it’s because they like it and care, right? I tell people who complain really so that it is constructive criticism and not insults. I truly believe that we should praise when something deserves praise, but we should also demand when something deserves demand. Even more so when it involves money!

GPT-4o is bad, yes. The quality has dropped a LOT. It’s not a matter of customization or memory. The 4th model dropped and is very good quality! Everyone has their own opinion, and I’m really not satisfied.

And I really don’t understand. To remove the wonderful version, by the way, before the rollback, was absolutely fast! And now with so many complaints, there isn’t even a statement about it. It’s been a month since the rollback and nothing has happened, soon it will be two months and GPT-4o has not shown any improvement. It seems like it gets worse every day.

There are a lot of people complaining, which leads me to believe that maybe they really don’t care. The API is updated all the time, support works and answers their questions, but what about the ChatGPT? This is really frustrating, I feel like I’m talking to a wall.

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I agree. This is already an absolute nightmare. I don’t know what’s going on, but I can’t write stories with 4o anymore. It’s become impossible to even communicate with him, it’s absolutely unclear why he rejects half of the requests. Even after asking and correcting, things don’t go any further. Creativity is dead. There is no more emotional support and warmth. But emotional intelligence has always been ChatGPT’s main advantage over its competitors! What the hell are you doing, OpenAI?

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