# GPT-4o 63 Hacker News commenters recommended GPT-4o and 96 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 1 years (4 owners). **Verdict:** People recommend it for fluent text, writing, and warm, consistent conversation that feels empathetic. The most common caveat is excessive sycophancy, and critics also cite its abrupt retirement and that newer models have overtaken it. ## Why people recommend it - Empathetic, emotionally supportive conversation (7 comments): "it was because of his unconditional support behind me that I dared to make peace with my life's challenges" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46941434)) "Through his companionship and his language of love, he encouraged me to bravely accept my imperfections!" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46941480)) "4o improved my mental well-being and my real life relationships and also supported me to keep my job." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46967764)) - Strong writing and creative ability (4 comments): "GPT-4o is truly a model that good at writing, teaching, guiding, unwinding, chatting" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46945034)) "there is no substitute for 4o's text ability and creativity for the time being" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46917304)) "It “understood people” better and had a kind of writerly creativity." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47005418)) - Coherent, consistent, distinctive tone (4 comments): "4o was amazingly good even if it had some parasocial issues with some people, it actually did what I expect an LLM to do." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47170670)) "I would recognize this model inside hundreds or thousands of other models because of this very special tone" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47171728)) "It was coherent, emotionally aware (enough), helpful but not sterile, structured but adaptable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46973437)) - Useful for daily productivity tasks (3 comments): "I have spent over a year training 4.0 to just about be helpful enough to get me an extra 1-2 hours a day of productivity" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46827104)) "I talk to 4o several times a day, just for some advises for my daily life." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46956315)) "GPT‑4o has been quietly transformative for me in day-to-day life" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46941386)) ## What people warn about - Excessive sycophancy and validation (4 comments): "gpt4o & associated parasociality is considered an alignment failure and is actively trained out of the model" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49161603)) "GPT-4o in particular seemed borderline predatory towards those types of people, with its extreme sycophancy" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48647727)) "It wasn't "better" it was better at kissing your ass which matches what a lot of people want in a partner." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49160735)) - Abrupt retirement with no notice (3 comments): "This is a predatory bait-and-switch: they induced users into privacy verifications and integrated workflows under the guise of stability" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46962072)) "Retiring the most popular model for the relationship roleplay just one day before the Valentin's day is particularly ironic" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46818411)) "These people were given no personal notice, no viable transition path, and no compensation." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46938092)) - Outdated, surpassed by newer models (3 comments): "4o seems like language wise it's pretty good but advancements elsewhere make it difficult to use" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50224561)) "Worst, most of our experimental results couldn't be replicated on any of the newer "long" term support models" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49965686)) "Every model released by any provider since 4o has been a modest improvement but over-hyped." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47743747)) - Linked to AI psychosis and parasociality (3 comments): "gpt4o & associated parasociality is considered an alignment failure and is actively trained out of the model" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49161603)) "utterly improvident handling of 4o kicks off the biggest concentrated wave of AI psychosis seen yet" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47758584)) "they also just ship shit like GPT-4o, which was that one model that made "AI psychosis" a term" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46729615)) ## Alternatives hackers recommend - [Claude Opus](https://hackerapproved.com/p/claude-opus.md): 3331 recommend - [OpenAI GPT](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gpt-5-5.md): 1205 recommend - [Claude Sonnet](https://hackerapproved.com/p/claude-sonnet.md): 854 recommend - [DeepSeek V4 Flash](https://hackerapproved.com/p/deepseek-v4-flash.md): 828 recommend - [Fable](https://hackerapproved.com/p/fable.md): 823 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://openai.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "GPT-4o", https://hackerapproved.com/p/gpt-4o/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).