OpenAI says ChatGPT-5 is a fast, 'active thought partner' for health issues

OpenAI just announced GPT-5, its newest AI model that comes complete with better coding abilities, larger context windows, improved video generation with Sora, improved memory, and more features. One of the improvements the company is spotlighting? Upgrades that, according to OpenAI, will vastly improve the quality of health advice offered through ChatGPT.

"GPT‑5 is our best model yet for health-related questions, empowering users to be informed about and advocate for their health," an OpenAI blog post about GPT-5 reads.

The company wrote that GPT-5 is "a significant leap in intelligence over all our previous models, featuring state-of-the-art performance" in health. The blog post said this new model "scores significantly higher than any previous model on HealthBench⁠, an evaluation we published earlier this year based on realistic scenarios and physician-defined criteria."

OpenAI said that this model acts more as an "active thought partner" than a doctor which, to be clear, it is not. The company argues that this model also "provides more precise and reliable responses, adapting to the user’s context, knowledge level, and geography, enabling it to provide safer and more helpful responses in a wide range of scenarios."

But OpenAI didn't focus on these during its livestream — instead, when it came time to dig into what makes GPT-5 different from previous models with relation to health during the livestream, it focused on its improvement in speed.

It should be clear that ChatGPT is not a medical professional. While patients are turning to ChatGPT in droves, ChatGPT is not HIPAA compliant, meaning your data isn't as safe with a chatbot as it is with a doctor, and more studies need to be done with regards to its efficacy.

Beyond physical health, OpenAI has faced a host of issues related to mental health and safety of its users. In a blog post last week, the company said it would be working to foster healthier, more stable relationships between the chatbot and people using it. ChatGPT-5 will nudge users who have spent too long with the bot, it will work to fix the bot's sycophancy problems, and it is working to be better at recognizing mental and emotional distress among its users.

"We don’t always get it right. Earlier this year, an update made the model too agreeable, sometimes saying what sounded nice instead of what was actually helpful. We rolled it back, changed how we use feedback, and are improving how we measure real-world usefulness over the long term, not just whether you liked the answer in the moment," OpenAI wrote in the announcement. "We also know that AI can feel more responsive and personal than prior technologies, especially for vulnerable individuals experiencing mental or emotional distress."

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, in April filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.