“We decided, and I think rightly so, to focus most of our effort in version 5.2 on improving intelligence, reasoning, coding, engineering and that kind of stuff. And we have limited room for maneuver here, and sometimes we focus on one thing and neglect another,” Altman explained.
When introducing GPT-4.5 in February 2025, the company highlighted its focus on more natural interaction and better quality of writing, saying that it “feels more natural” and is “useful for tasks like improving writing.”
Instead, the announcement of GPT-5.2 marked an orientation toward professional work, with emphasis on managing complex projects, creating spreadsheets, presentations, programming, and the use of advanced tools.
Although technical writing is mentioned as a specific improvement to GPT-5.2Instant, the official publication gives less prominence to the overall writing experience.
Sam Altman’s statements reinforce this perception, pointing out that the quality of writing in GPT-5.2 does not match that of its predecessor, despite advances in other areas.
Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, anticipated that the future of artificial intelligence will be dominated by high-performance general-purpose models.He noted that even those designed for specific tasks, such as programming, will need to offer quality writing.
“Even if we develop a specialized coding model, we would want it to also write well. If you generate a complete application, we would want it to maintain clear writing and display a thoughtful and incisive personality. Good writing involves clear thinking, not just an attractive presentation,” he said.
“My expectation is that we will achieve really strong models in all these dimensions. Intelligence is surprisingly adaptable and I think we can achieve high levels of performance in different areas with a single model. This is a crucial moment to move forward, and although we call it decoding intelligence, our goal is to excel and catch up in all aspects,” he added.
Altman did not specify a date for the improvement of writing capabilities in the GPT-5.x series, but indicated that OpenAI usually introduces adjustments through specific releases.For this reason, advances in writing could be implemented gradually and not through a single update.
At that same meeting, Sam Altman pointed out that, in an era marked by artificial intelligence, the most relevant skills are the so-called soft skills.
He highlighted the importance of being a great agent, generating ideas, showing resilience and adapting to a constantly changing environment.According to Altman, these skills are more valuable than any other and can be acquired with practice.
“I was surprised to discover, in the world of startups, how quickly people can develop these skills in an intensive training environment, becoming extremely competent in multiple dimensions. These are skills that can make a difference and are within everyone’s reach,” the manager concluded.
Sam Altman has led OpenAI since 2019, after the departure of Elon Musk.In November 2023, the board of directors surprised by dismissing him for “loss of trust”, alleging a lack of transparency in his communications.The decision caused an internal crisis, with the support of employees and Microsoft, which led to his reinstatement just five days later.
