This is anecdotal but I've seen massive personality shifts from GPT5 over the past week or so of using it

That's probably because it's actually multiple models under the hood, with some kind of black box combining them.

and they're also actively changing/tuning the system prompt – they promised it would be "warmer"

You’re absolutely right! - Opus (and Sonnet)

After inciting the Rohingya genocide in Myanmar in 2017, and later effectively destroying our US democracy, Facebook is having billion dollar offers to AI stars refused.

News flash! It's not so your neighbor's child can cheat in school, or her father can render porn that looks like gothic anime.

It's also not so some coder on a budget can get AI help for $20 a month. I frankly don't understand why the major players bother. It's nice PR, but like a restaurant offering free food out the back door to the homeless. This isn't what the push is about. Apple is hemorrhaging money on their Headset Pro, but they're in the business of realizing future interfaces, and they have the money. The AI push is similarly about the future, not about now.

I pay $200 a month for MAX access to Claude Opus 4.1, to help me write code as a retired math professor to find a new solution to a major math problem that stumped me for decades while I worked. Far cheaper than a grad student, and far more effective.

AI used to frustrate me too. You get what you pay for.