ChatGPT presents a number of methods to customise and personalize your conversations. You possibly can share your title, your occupation, and different tidbits about your life. You are in a position to inform it what traits it ought to possess, corresponding to endurance, sympathy, or understanding. You possibly can add and save sure information about your self and inform it to reference reminiscences from previous conversations.
That each one sounds useful. However what does ChatGPT do with the data it is aware of about you? I shared sure particulars about myself and my life to seek out out. Here is what occurred.
First, I am going to cowl the ways in which I personalized and customized ChatGPT. You are able to do this on the ChatGPT web site, within the Home windows or Mac app, or within the iOS or Android app. I discovered it best to do that on the web site and the Home windows app.
Earlier than we transfer forward, all the time watch out what private data you share about your self with ChatGPT or any AI. OpenAI guarantees that the small print aren’t accessible to workers members or are at the very least anonymized. Nonetheless, you may wish to be cautious. Share simply sufficient about your self to make the conversations extra customized and fascinating. However do not reveal something you would not need one other particular person to learn about you.
(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET’s mum or dad firm, filed an April 2025 lawsuit in opposition to OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in coaching and working its AI techniques.)
To get began, click on your profile icon and choose Settings. On the Settings window, click on the setting for Personalization after which choose Customized directions. Within the area for “What ought to ChatGPT name you?” enter your first title or a nickname, whichever your want. Within the area for “What do you do?” enter your occupation. In my case, I informed the AI that I used to be a contract author and journalist.
The following area asks you to decide on what traits ChatGPT ought to have. That is price establishing as it’s going to affect how the AI behaves in a dialog. Click on any of the traits beneath so as to add them, corresponding to chatty, witty, encouraging, or skeptical. Click on the refresh button to show a brand new set of traits and click on any you wish to embody. In return, ChatGPT will increase the phrases you choose into full sentences.
Within the area for “Anything ChatGPT ought to learn about you?” enter anything about your self that you just’d need ChatGPT to know. On my finish, I wrote that I am married and that my spouse and I personal a black cat named Mr. Giggles. I additionally added that I am an enormous fan of outdated motion pictures, jazz, “Star Trek,” “The Twilight Zone,” “Physician Who,” and “Spider-Man.”
When accomplished, activate the swap for Allow for brand new chats after which click on Save.
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Within the Reminiscence part, activate the switches for “Reference saved reminiscences” and “Reference chat historical past.” When referencing saved reminiscences, ChatGPT will use the data you supplied within the customized directions. When referencing your chat historical past, the AI will use data you have shared in earlier conversations. You will wish to strive each choices if you would like to provide ChatGPT that further private contact.
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Past the small print you share as reminiscences, you may as well drop tidbits about your self in a daily chat. For instance, you would possibly ask ChatGPT to write down a poem about peanut butter and jelly by which you reveal that PB&J was your favourite sandwich as a child.
In my case, I informed the AI that my favourite sandwich is lox with a dollop of cream cheese on a toasted poppy seed bagel and that my favourite drink is a chocolate egg cream. I then requested it for the origins of each. ChatGPT answered my query and added my two favourite treats to the saved reminiscences about me.
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You may also straight handle any reminiscences that ChatGPT has saved. For this, head again to Settings, choose Personalization, and click on the hyperlink for Handle Reminiscences. Right here, you possibly can evaluate your saved reminiscences and delete any you now not need.
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After I personalized and customized ChatGPT, I took it for a spin to see the way it responded in our conversations.
In a single dialog, I informed it to call some songs from my favourite singer, and the AI gave me an inventory of tunes by Billie Vacation. It then supplied to compile an inventory of the songs, ultimately placing it in a playlist with hyperlinks so I may hearken to them straight in Apple Music.
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In one other dialog, I requested ChatGPT to call some locations the place I can get my favourite drink in my favourite metropolis. In response, it confirmed me an inventory of eating places and outlets in New York Metropolis the place I may order a chocolate egg cream. It then displayed a map with the placement of every spot on the record.
Lastly, here is the place ChatGPT obtained actually intelligent. I requested it to outline a tachyon, a hypothetical particle that may transfer quicker than the pace of sunshine. The AI outlined the phrase after which confirmed examples of tachyons in “Star Trek” and “Physician Who,” two of my favourite TV reveals.
It then supplied to write down a brief sci-fi story involving tachyons, time journey, and Mr. Giggles, my cat. The ensuing story was enjoyable and artistic. From there, ChatGPT may flip it right into a full quick story, a comic book script, or an audio drama define.
I did not inform the AI to include Mr. Giggles into the dialog; it did that by itself. However this reveals the surprises that may pop up whenever you share simply sufficient about your self with ChatGPT.
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