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For as long as there’s been software, upgrades have been emotionally fraught. When people grow accustomed to a product, they can come to regard it like a comfy pair of shoes. Exhibit A: Windows XP, which many users were loath to give up years after Microsoft had done its best to kill it.

So it isn’t shocking that some ChatGPT users have reacted badly to OpenAI’s new GPT-5-powered update, especially since the company’s initial plan was to eliminate access to its earlier models. These unhappy campers’ angst has had a new dimension, though. They responded as if they had suffered the tragic loss of a personal friend, not just a favorite piece of software.

As one member of OpenAI’s developer community wrote, the GPT-4 version of ChatGPT

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