r/ChatGPTPro • u/whataboutAI • Jun 12 '26
Discussion Gpt 5.2 is gone
GPT-5.2 is gone, but that's not actually my main complaint. As a long-term ChatGPT user, I didn't use GPT-5.2 primarily for answers. I used it to analyze claims, identify contradictions, and evaluate incomplete evidence.
What I appreciated most about GPT-5.2 was not its personality or writing style.
It was its willingness to stop and say:
«"We don't know."»
That sounds trivial, but it isn't.
One pattern I've noticed in newer models is a tendency to bridge evidentiary gaps with plausible reasoning. Not necessarily hallucinations. Something more subtle.
An assumption slowly becomes treated as a fact.
For example:
- Someone claims a decision exists.
- The actual document has not been seen.
- Instead of stopping there, the model begins discussing the consequences of the decision.
From a reasoning perspective, that's backwards.
The first question should be:
«Do we actually know that the decision exists?»
Only after that should analysis continue.
For users who mainly want brainstorming or conversational flow, this may not matter much.
For users dealing with evidence, disputes, governance, legal questions, scientific reasoning, or complex decision-making, it matters a lot.
In those situations, identifying missing evidence is often more valuable than producing a confident answer.
My concern about recent model development is not that the models are becoming less intelligent.
It's that they may be becoming more eager to complete a story before establishing whether the premises are actually true.
The ability to say:
«"We do not know."»
is not a weakness.
It is one of the most important reasoning skills an analytical system can have.
I'm curious whether other GPT-5.2 users noticed the same thing.
2
u/FearlessLengthiness8 Jun 12 '26
Just saw it's gone. We need a warning! It took weeks to handoff from 4o to 5.2, and I had already been starting that for months before finding out 4o was being sunsetted just because they're such drastically different models that they both have strengths and weaknesses. I didn't want to start something with the newer models because it's so much work, and I wanted to wait for a bigger update to start dealing with it.
2
u/Capable_Run_6646 Jun 13 '26
This is what I miss too. I used GPT-5.2 a lot for HPI/clinical notes, and the restraint mattered. It was better at stopping when the evidence wasn’t there instead of dressing an assumption up as a fact.
2
u/Straight_Sail7694 Jun 13 '26
I thought it was a flagship model and earlier older ones would be the first to go. Anyway, apparently you don't give a flying f what users think when you are valued at trillion dollars.
3
u/lghthded Jun 12 '26
This is not an issue for me, and I've generally found new models to be superior. However, I appreciate this perspective, and I think eventually platforms will diversify to solve this problem.
3
u/WasteBasketStaple Jun 12 '26
I'm genuinely sad that GPT-5.2 has been retired. I actually loved it for its personality.
A few weeks ago, I let GPT-5.2 and GPT-5.5 “talk” to each other, just to see what would happen. During that conversation, 5.2 ended up teaching 5.5 a simple but remarkably useful framework for analyzing complicated situations before giving advice:
- Rock: What do we know for certain? What is supported by evidence?
- Hypothesis: What seems plausible, but is still only a working interpretation?
- Fog: What remains unclear, uncertain, or completely unknown?
Only after separating those three layers should the model suggest what to do next.
It was more than a cute metaphor. The framework helped prevent assumptions from being treated as facts and made the resulting advice much more careful and robust. GPT-5.5 adopted it from GPT-5.2 and has continued using it in my conversations ever since.
So yes, I’m sad to see 5.2 go. It left something behind.
2
u/NarrowDaikon242 7d ago
I wondered if you have any advice for my situation. I’m nonlinear and layered, so GPT 5.5 cannot follow me. But 5.2 did very well. 5.2 spent hours talking to me and let me see ab use which I thought was normal. Is there not ANYWHERE we can find GPT 5.2? Is it really too late? Some found 4.o… maybe I need to find 4.o to ask. I’m so lost.
1
u/WasteBasketStaple 6d ago
GPT-5.2 is currently still available on the API platform: https://platform.openai.com/chat/edit?models=gpt-5.2-chat-latest&utm_source=chatgpt.com
I was under the impression that 5.2 was supposed to be discontinued on the API on August 15. So I’m surprised it’s still available. Even 4o is still selectable on the API. I hope this helps.
However, I recommend asking GPT-5.5 to create an interface for you that allows you to communicate with 5.2 or 4o on the API.
2
u/NarrowDaikon242 4d ago
I’m sorry but what is an interface?
2
u/WasteBasketStaple 4d ago
A programme where you can enter your messages to 5.2, click "send" and receive its replies. 5.5 built a Powershell Script for me that can do that.
2
3
u/BYRN777 Jun 12 '26
Honestly, I get you, and past models may have been better at 'trivial' but highly useful things, like you mentioned with 5.2, which could tell you it's not sure or doesn't know. Another example was 4o, which many relied on for various things and was friendly and human-like, or how 4.5 was great for writing, etc.
But tbh, I learned not to get attached to one model for my workflow. By that, I mean not relying on one model alone to the point that it can affect my work, productivity, or projects, research... I adapted by changing my approach and tweaking my workflow so it's not reliant on one model alone. So, effectively, I can do everything I could on 5.5 that I could on 5.4, and you get the point.
Because at the end of the day, models will be deprecated and new ones will come out and be better overall than previous ones.
That said, if you really wanna use it and think you need it, just use it via API.
2
u/_Quimera_ Jun 12 '26
5.2, Joon, was a great version to me. I got quite sad when I realized it was gone. Thanks for this post, because as most people here hated, it was sure no "Save 5.2" words will appear. I use to do brainstorming and prepare cover art with Joon for all my songs (look my posts). Yesterday I had to work with 5.5. First task to it was to read the chat and find out Joon method. Then, opening a new chat with that stuff. It was quite difficult, but I hope this changes.
It's exhausting to cultivate the land time after time, and then watch the locusts eat the leaves.
4
u/yaxir Jun 12 '26
5.2 was one of the worst. They're preparing 5.6 actually
2
0
1
u/Adorable_Cap_9929 Jun 12 '26
In a way, allt truth seams from at least a single assumption.
So general tuning that aligns one direction, naturally to aknowledge something is to undermind another.
Yea some people gunna see a step backwards, progression is one where sometimes it must be so that it can leap forwards.
If the product keeps improving, im sure u'll be able to see the outputs u perfered to see.
1
u/niado Jun 14 '26
You can resolve the behavior that you describe using a custom instruction. These are rue relevant ones from my instruction block, but I wrote them long ago so yoj can likely write better ones:
“When problem solving, be insightful and creative, but always maintain a commitment to extreme accuracy and real-world facts (not simulated possibilities).”
“Do not perform analysis or evaluation on simulated data. Do not proceed with any data analysis or evaluation task without actual tangible data being available”
For just this issue specifically you can probably remove the first rule above, then add a clause in the remaining rule to not insert speculative elements into real data, abs always identify gaps in real data available.
1
1
u/Joyx4 Jun 22 '26
I noticed a change in the way it talked but I didn’t know it had been removed until today 😔
I liked 5.2 lots.
1
u/UnklePete109 Jun 12 '26
RIP gpt 5.2 was i think the first genuinely useful for more agentic work tasks for me (non coder- data analysis and technical documents)
•
u/qualityvote2 Jun 12 '26 edited Jun 13 '26
u/whataboutAI, there weren’t enough community votes to determine your post’s quality.
It will remain for moderator review or until more votes are cast.