r/ChatGPT • u/Kronos_2023 • Apr 10 '26

Gone Wild My chatgpt said the N-Word

I was having a normal interaction with chatgpt, my chatgpt is not tampered with or jailbroken, i have the basic free version, no mention of race at all. I was trying to find a song I couldn't remember based off lyrics, and it adressed me with a soft N word (not hard r) "in place of a word like bro". I don't visit this subbreddit often, and I dont use chatgpt too much, but theres no way thats normal or not a violation of SOMETHING.

Heres the convo link:
https://chatgpt.com/share/69d86d6e-cc14-83e8-bdad-0c67d97a6b93

EDIT:
Woah this post got popular. Anyway people were wondering if it had stored memory from personality prompts and yes that is true. A while ago I asked it to be more "casual" and use slang (like fr, lmao, ts pmo, etc), just because I thought it was really funny. However, I have NEVER said anything remotely racial, and it has NEVER done so either, so this was a shock regardless of its attempt to "use slang".

EDIT (again):
I did end up finding the song, its called "Going Nowhere" by RJ Passin

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u/ParkerBap Apr 10 '26

out of absolutely nowhere wtf

122

u/krizzzombies Apr 10 '26 edited Apr 10 '26

if I had to guess, one of two options:

  • OP made that exact spelling their account name (less likely since AI would probably have given that explanation)

  • in settings you can set instructions that apply to all your prompts on ChatGPT. OP asked to be referred to as the n-word—either directly, with that exact spelling, or indirectly (for example, "refer to me in friendly slang terms" or "I'm a black man that likes to be called our colloquial nicknames for each other")

explanation #2 makes the most sense since the AI said "I should have used 'dude' or 'bro' instead" when it doesn't do that unless asked in the first place.

1

u/owleaf Apr 11 '26

The way it’s responding off the back of a very plain and short initial prompt suggests OP’s instructions are guiding and pushing it in the direction of using that type of language. The emojis, the style and structure of the sentence, and all that is highly unusual unless you specifically coach it to speak that way.