OpenAI has addressed what it jokingly refers to as the Goblin Problem, a curious phase in its recent AI development where ChatGPT appeared to lean unusually heavily on references to fictional creatures such as goblins, trolls and other fantasy-style metaphors.

In a technical post described as an internal autopsy of the issue, the company explained how certain personality design choices, combined with reinforcement learning signals, contributed to the unintended pattern.

A spike in creature-themed language

While a stray "little goblin" reference might seem charming, the data suggested something more persistent.…