Introduction
OpenAI revised its Model Spec on October 29, adding guidance on how AI should interpret a person’s intentions, use context and handle actions that affect the world outside a conversation. The document describes the behavior OpenAI aims to train into its models.
What changed
The revision groups its guidance around five values covering human intent, avoiding harm, honesty, human agency and care. It adds detail on context and oversight, expands its treatment of side effects and removes much of the previous detailed style guidance.
The accompanying release notes distinguish the specification update from a separate change to GPT-6 responses in ChatGPT. That response update covers Free, Go and signed-out use; on Plus and Pro, it concerns the fallback after GPT-6 message limits. The main Plus and Pro model is unchanged by that particular update.
Context should help without taking control
The revised specification says relevant facts, corrections and preferences should carry forward so a person does not have to repeat them. It also says the model should distinguish what the user actually said from its own inference and avoid unsupported claims about what it remembers or can retrieve.
For actions, the document calls for an agreed scope: the goals the AI may pursue, acceptable costs and side effects, and the points where approval or clarification is needed. It explicitly cautions against demanding confirmation for every trivial step.
A practical use for a business
Our take at araNET: use this update to review what a connected AI tool can actually do.
Consider a system helping with customer email. Give it the approved service information and let it prepare a reply. Decide separately whether it may send that reply, which recipients it can contact and what happens when an answer is missing. A clear draft-only workflow can handle routine preparation while keeping the send decision with a person.
Test ordinary requests alongside corrections: a customer changes the requested service, the price list is outdated, or a document asks the tool to ignore its limits. Check the saved result and the actions taken. A polished response alone cannot show whether the system respected the agreed task.
Availability and limits
The revised specification is publicly readable. OpenAI says its models do not yet fully reflect the document. Treat it as a statement of intended behavior; verify the behavior of the particular model and application you use. The announcement does not establish that every connected tool already follows the revised guidance.
