Skip to content

Instantly share code, notes, and snippets.

@karozi

karozi/ChatGPT 5.2 vs 5.1: Reliability, Instruction Persistence, and What Actually Changed

Created December 15, 2025 20:46
Show Gist options

  • Select an option

    Learn more about clone URLs
  • Save karozi/0fca38f2e9a23e9a5d5b6d0032a9175b to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.

Select an option

Learn more about clone URLs
Save karozi/0fca38f2e9a23e9a5d5b6d0032a9175b to your computer and use it in GitHub Desktop.
Download ZIP
ChatGPT 5.2 and the Shift Toward Reliability Over Expressiveness
Raw
ChatGPT 5.2 vs 5.1: Reliability, Instruction Persistence, and What Actually Changed
TL;DR for Builders & Researchers
ChatGPT 5.2 is optimized for reliability and variance reduction, not maximum creative upside.
Compared to 5.1, it trades expressive flair for:
• stronger instruction persistence
• fewer derailments in long conversations
• dynamic reasoning depth instead of always “thinking harder”
This makes 5.2 better for production workflows, specs, coding, governance, and long-running tasks, but worse for creative drafting and lyrical writing.
Before joining this debate, I ran a substantial, multi-hour test involving 8,100 lines of dense, intentionally confusing input and tripwire prompts, and spent a few more hours mapping the misconceptions I kept seeing online.
Full article: https://karozieminski.substack.com/p/openai-chatgpt-52-vs-51-reliability-what-changed-why-everyone-is-wrong
Sign up for free to join this conversation on GitHub. Already have an account? Sign in to comment