Winning the beer league championship title becomes an all-consuming obsession for coach Joanne Pico (Jess Salgueiro) after her girlfriend and co-founder of the Public Lass Brovaries, a team for LGBTQ women and non-binary players, dumps her and joins a rival team in 10-part softball mockumentary Slo Pitch.

The comparisons with Heated Rivalry are obvious, all the moreso because Emily Hampshire and Nadine Bhabha are in both shows. Slo Pitch, however, predates the smash-hit hockey series. It started out as a cult web series in 2020, and its co-creators are heavily involved in the TV adaptation, with J Stevens directing, Gwenlyn Cumyn and Karen Knox starring, the trio having reunited to pen the series.

ASUS has announced a new partnership with Google that gives eligible ASUS and ROG laptop owners in India three months of Google AI Pro or Google AI Plus at no additional cost. The offer is available to both new and existing customers with select 2025, 2026, and upcoming 2027 laptops, and can be redeemed through the MyASUS app. Here’s everything you need to know about it.

Eligible ASUS and ROG laptops get Gemini AI benefits

The new offer is designed to make Google’s premium AI tools more accessible across ASUS’ consumer and gaming laptop lineup. Customers purchasing eligible devices, or those who already own supported models, can activate the subscription directly from the MyASUS app.

Depending on the eligible device, users will receive either Google AI Pro or Google AI Plus. Google AI Pro is the higher-tier subscription and includes expanded access to Google’s latest Gemini models, higher usage limits for advanced AI features, and 5TB of cloud storage. Meanwhile, Google AI Plus offers an entry-level premium experience with enhanced Gemini capabilities alongside 400GB of cloud storage.

The subscription includes access to several of Google’s AI experiences across creativity, research, and productivity. Users can generate images, brainstorm video concepts, create music from prompts, and perform in-depth research using Gemini’s advanced models. The AI tools also integrate with familiar Google apps, making it easier to draft documents, organize projects, summarize information, and refine written content without switching between multiple platforms.

Beyond that, you also get storage. Google AI Pro subscribers receive 5TB of storage, while Google AI Plus includes 400GB, giving users significantly more room for documents, photos, videos, research material, and creative projects across supported Google services. For students and creators who regularly work across multiple devices, the added storage could be just as valuable as the AI features themselves, making it easier to manage large files without relying on external drives.

The Google AI offer is available in India from August 10, 2026, through August 9, 2027, across selected ASUS and ROG laptops. Check your specific model here.

Bluetooth has become very good at convenience. The trouble begins when you ask it to behave like a cable inside a recording studio, where latency, compression, and synchronization are not features engineers are particularly interested in negotiating with.

A vocalist monitoring their own voice or a musician tracking an instrument needs to hear what is happening almost immediately. Nobody in the control room really cares how impressive the codec logo looks when the performance arrives late.

That is the problem LEWITT is attempting to solve with its new LW6 Wireless Studio Headphones, a $699 closed-back design that uses Ultra-Wideband (UWB) wireless technology rather than Bluetooth for its primary professional audio connection.

More specifically, LEWITT’s RealSound wireless system uses LE-UWB technology from SPARK Microsystems to deliver uncompressed PCM audio with 5.8 milliseconds of latency, a 1,728 kbps data rate, 110 dB of dynamic range, and an operating range of up to 5 meters or 16.4 feet. SPARK describes the LW6 as its commercial entry into the professional audio market.

That makes the LW6 considerably more interesting than another wireless headphone with a new Bluetooth codec.

Related Reading:

Bluetooth Is Getting Some New Competition

The timing is rather interesting.

We just examined Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Sound Elite Gen 2, which adds micro-power Wi-Fi 6E and XPAN technology to future wireless headphones and earbuds. Qualcomm’s idea is that Wi-Fi can handle higher-bandwidth lossless audio and other demanding applications while Bluetooth remains available when power efficiency and universal compatibility are more important.

LEWITT and SPARK are approaching the same fundamental problem from a different direction.

Instead of adding Wi-Fi, the LW6 uses LE-UWB, or Low Energy Ultra-Wideband, for its RealSound connection. SPARK’s implementation is based on impulse-radio UWB technology but has been developed as a high-speed short-range data connection rather than primarily for the ranging and positioning applications commonly associated with UWB.

In other words, this is not AirTag technology wearing expensive headphones and hoping nobody notices.

SPARK designed LE-UWB around deterministic low latency, high throughput, and low power consumption for applications where data needs to arrive quickly and predictably. In the LW6, that technology is being used specifically to move uncompressed audio between LEWITT’s included transmitter and the headphones.

We Have Already Seen UWB in High-End Audio

UWB audio itself is not entirely new.

We have already covered its use in the Focal Diva Utopia family, including the $210,000 Diva Alta Utopia, which uses UWB for the wireless connection between its left and right loudspeakers. That system can transmit 24-bit/96kHz audio wirelessly between the speakers without compression.

SPARK also confirmed earlier this year that its LE-UWB technology powers the wireless connection inside the Diva Alta Utopia.

The LW6 moves that concept into headphones, where latency becomes considerably more important. A small delay between two loudspeakers can be managed by the system; hearing your own guitar, drums, or vocals noticeably behind the actual performance is another matter entirely.

LEWITT RealSound

The supplied LW TX RealSound transmitter can connect directly to a computer using USB-C or to the headphone output of an audio interface using its 3.5 mm analog input.

The transmitter itself supports USB audio up to 24-bit/96kHz, while the RealSound wireless link delivers uncompressed PCM audio at 1,728 kbps with the aforementioned 5.8 ms latency. LEWITT also provides a 3.5 mm analog output on the transmitter.

There is one important limitation to understand: RealSound is a short-range dedicated connection, not a universal replacement for Bluetooth. Its specified range is only 5 meters, which makes complete sense inside a studio but somewhat less useful if your recording console happens to be located across the parking lot.

Bluetooth remains onboard for everything else.

The LW6 supports Bluetooth 5.3 with SBC and AAC, with LEWITT claiming a range of approximately 40 meters. There is no aptX Adaptive, aptX Lossless, or LDAC because the higher-performance studio connection is handled separately by RealSound.

That separation may prove to be one of the smarter aspects of the design.

Instead of trying to force Bluetooth to handle professional monitoring, LEWITT uses UWB for the demanding job and leaves Bluetooth available for phones, tablets, and casual listening.

Closed-Back Headphones Designed for Studio Work

The LW6 uses a 40 mm dynamic driver with a bio-cellulose diaphragm inside a closed-back enclosure. Frequency response is rated from 20Hz to 20kHz, impedance is 32 ohms, sensitivity is 114 dB SPL/V, and maximum output is specified at 121 dB SPL. Weight is 358 grams.

LEWITT also took an interesting approach to tuning.

Rather than relying solely on conventional headphone measurement fixtures, the company used MIRE measurements, which place small microphones inside the ear canals of actual listeners. LEWITT says this allowed its engineers to account for differences in ear anatomy, head shape, hair, glasses, and headphone seal while developing the LW6’s target response.

The goal is to provide the isolation required for tracking and recording while maintaining the tonal characteristics engineers often prefer from open-back headphones.

We will reserve judgment on whether LEWITT achieved that until someone actually puts them on our head. We have all met enough products that were “reference” right up until the first cymbal crash.

The LW6 is not relying solely on its wireless connection to justify the $699 asking price.

LEWITT includes a substantial collection of onboard DSP features controlled through its HEADPHONES desktop software and mobile app:

• 5-band customizable EQ
• Three user EQ profiles stored directly on the headphones
• Virtual studio monitor processing
• Loudness Guard
• Mono, side stereo, side mono, and left/right monitoring checks
• Three programmable target volume levels
• Two customizable hardware buttons
• K-metering support for mastering and broadcast

The LW6 also includes a license for LEWITT Space Replicator Essential, which provides virtual studio environments and additional mix translation tools.

Battery life is rated at 21 hours using RealSound, with a full recharge taking approximately 80 minutes. A 15-minute charge can provide around three additional hours of playback.

USB-C audio is also supported directly through the headphones at up to 24-bit/96kHz, along with a conventional 3.5 mm analog input.

Specifications:

• Type: Closed-back wireless studio headphones
• Driver: 40 mm bio-cellulose dynamic
• Frequency Response: 20Hz–20kHz
• Impedance: 32 ohms
• Sensitivity: 114 dB SPL/V
• Max SPL: 121 dB
• Weight: 358 g / 12.6 oz
• RealSound Wireless: LE-UWB, uncompressed PCM
• Latency: 5.8 ms
• Data Rate: 1,728 kbps
• Dynamic Range: 110 dB(A)
• RealSound Range: 5 m / 16.4 ft
• Bluetooth: 5.3 with SBC and AAC
• Bluetooth Range: Approx. 40 m / 130 ft
• USB-C Audio: Up to 24-bit/96kHz
• Analog Input: 3.5 mm
• Battery Life: Up to 21 hours with RealSound
• Charging: 80 minutes; 15-minute charge provides approx. 3 hours

The Bottom Line

The LW6 is not evidence that Bluetooth is about to disappear.

It is evidence that audio manufacturers are becoming less willing to pretend Bluetooth needs to handle every wireless application.

Our recent look at whether wireless headphones really need 24-bit/192kHz audio raised precisely this issue. Better drivers, amplification, DSP, and DAC stages have pushed wireless headphones forward considerably, but the connection between the source and headphone remains an important part of the equation.

HiFiMAN has already explored another route with the HE1000 WiFi, which moves high-resolution playback onto Wi-Fi rather than relying exclusively on Bluetooth. We found genuine sonic advantages there, although battery life and usability demonstrated that changing the wireless transport does not magically erase every engineering compromise.

LEWITT’s approach is narrower but arguably more practical for its intended audience.

It does not need RealSound to work everywhere. It needs it to deliver stable, uncompressed, nearly real-time audio across a recording room, while Bluetooth handles ordinary listening outside of that environment.

Qualcomm is betting that Wi-Fi will become a second wireless pipeline for premium consumer headphones. LEWITT and SPARK are demonstrating that UWB can perform a similar role where latency matters even more.

Bluetooth isn’t dead. Far from it.

But 2026 is starting to look like the year the audio industry finally stopped asking it to do every job in the building.

Price & Availability

The LEWITT LW6 Wireless Studio Headphones are priced at $699 USD and include LW TX RealSound UWB transmitter, cables, adapters, transport pouch, and Space Replicator Essential software..

Related Reading:

Chargers are easy to compare by wattage and harder to compare by what they’ll actually do for a setup. I picked six discounted options with distinct jobs, from keeping a phone topped up at a desk to replacing the adapters competing for a travel outlet.

Amazon Basics 25W Qi2.2 wireless charging pad – $9.71 (27% off)

A magnetic charging pad for less than $10 is an easy addition to a desk or nightstand, especially if there’s already a suitable USB-C adapter nearby. The Amazon Basics pad includes a long cable, giving it more freedom of placement than a puck with a short lead. It’s a simple phone charger, though: there’s no stand or second charging spot, and the power adapter is sold separately.

UGREEN Nexode 65W 3-port charger – $23.99 (40% off)

This is the charger I’d pack when a laptop, phone, and smaller accessory all need power but only one wall outlet is available. The Nexode can handle all three, with enough output to replace the supplied adapter for many compact USB-C laptops. Power is divided when several devices are connected, so don’t expect maximum laptop charging speed while using every port. At $23.99, that flexibility is the appeal.

Anker Nano 45W Smart Display Charger – $29.99 (25% off)

Most wall chargers give no indication of what they’re doing. The Nano’s display shows charging information at a glance, which is useful when checking whether a device is drawing the power expected. It also has a plug that adjusts to different outlet positions and a Care Mode for less aggressive charging. There’s only one port, so this makes more sense as a dedicated phone or tablet charger than a whole-bag solution.

UGREEN MagFlow 25W 2-in-1 foldable charger – $39.99 (33% off)

For trips, the MagFlow replaces separate wireless pads for a phone and earbuds with something that folds flat in a bag. Its phone pad can also be raised into a stand, making it useful on a nightstand or desk after the trip. The second charging spot gives it a reason to cost more than a basic puck. Factor in a separate power adapter, though, because UGREEN doesn’t include one.

Anker Nano 6-in-1 Travel Power Strip – $39.99 (20% off)

A charger helps with USB devices; this one also leaves room for equipment that needs a regular plug. The Nano power strip turns one wall outlet into six connections, making it useful beside a cramped desk or in a hotel room. Its flat plug and 5-foot cord help when the available outlet is tucked behind furniture. It’s the most practical pick here for a mixed collection of devices.

Anker Prime 25W 3-in-1 foldable wireless charger – $99.73 (34% off)

The Prime is the one to consider if an iPhone, Apple Watch, and wireless earbuds all need a place to charge overnight. It folds for travel and uses active cooling to help sustain fast wireless charging on a compatible phone. It’s still a substantial purchase at nearly $100, but Anker includes the wall adapter and cable. That makes the package easier to justify than a cheaper stand that needs another accessory to work as intended.

Microsoft has refreshed its compact Surface Laptop with Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon X2 Plus processor. This promises more performance and better efficiency without changing the lightweight design.

The new Surface Laptop 13-inch is a fanless Windows PC with a full-size backlit keyboard, precision touchpad, aluminium body and a taller 3:2 PixelSense touchscreen. Moreover, the Snapdragon X2 Plus upgrade brings up to 17% faster Office productivity performance and more than 60% faster graphics. It also offers up to 95% faster on-device AI processing compared with previous generations.

Google will send its first AI chips into space next week as the opening flight of Project Suncatcher, a long-term research effort to find out whether machine learning hardware can run in low Earth orbit on solar power. A refrigerator-sized prototype named MVP, built with Planet Labs and carrying four Tensor Processing Units, is booked on SpaceX’s Transporter-18 Falcon 9 rideshare from Vandenberg, with a target date of October 1. The satellite is not a working orbital data center. It exists to measure what launch vibration, radiation, and vacuum heat do to Google’s chips once they leave the ground.

Project Suncatcher was introduced in November 2025 as a way to work backward from a future of clustered, solar-powered satellites that talk to each other over lasers. Sitting in a dawn-dusk sun-synchronous orbit, panels can absorb near-constant sunshine and generate up to eight times the electricity you’d get on Earth, which is the entire rationale for leaving the planet in the first place. The plain, unvarnished reason Google is pushing this is because our present AI usage consumes a lot of electricity and land, whereas the Sun is the solar system’s largest energy source. The first flight is essentially the smallest feasible iteration of that concept, with a hair dryer’s equivalent of electricity, roughly 1 kilowatt of solar power, and four Trillium TPUs performing Gemini workloads in brief bursts.

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Planet had already built the bus. Google, which has invested in the company, asked to fly sooner than the two custom satellites planned for 2027, so the chips went into an existing spacecraft instead of waiting for a purpose-built pair. So they just stuffed the chips into an existing vehicle rather than waiting for a pair to be manufactured specifically for the task. Yes, it’s a challenging ride; launch is only ten minutes of nonstop turbulence. The spaceship experiences sustained weights of 10g, while individual components like as the TPUs can weigh 50-100g or more. To put that to the test, ground crews physically shook the satellite back and forth on all three axes and were relieved to discover that the hardware could withstand it.

That still does not get us to orbit, where the only thing that can remove heat is a thin vacuum, and there is no atmosphere to deflect radiation. Radiation testing began at UC Davis’ Crocker Nuclear Laboratory, where researchers conducted AI operations on Trillium TPUs inside a proton beam while keeping a tight eye on how many bit flips and long-term damage the chips sustained. Google claims that the chips withstood more ionizing radiation than a usual five-year mission and did not break altogether, albeit memory proved to be the weakest spot. That’s somewhat useful, but also a bit incomplete.

The real test will come when the satellite is launched and we can observe how solar activities and cosmic rays behave in space. Then there’s the issue of cooling, which means the heat pipes and radiators must be able to dump the TPU’s waste heat into the vacuum. On the first flight, the system can only handle roughly 15 minutes of computation time before the radiators overheat and the processors shut down.

Next year, two more satellites will be launched to test the component that will transform isolated boxes into proper clusters: high-bandwidth laser communications over short distances. Each craft will need to know where it is and where its neighbors are, as well as be able to keep its beam on point. Google compares it to trying to hit a coin-sized target from miles away while both ends move. On the ground, they have a system that is already moving 800 gigabits per second each way, or 1.6 terabits total, via a single pair of transceivers. A study preprint already envisions a future in which there are 81 satellites, each carrying many more processors, within a one-kilometer radius, using free-space optics to replace the fiber that connects racks in a typical hall.

Facepalm: Samsung’s Bespoke AI Family Hub refrigerators are equipped with a Google Gemini-powered “AI Vision” feature that can recognize grocery items and suggest recipes based on what’s available. Many of these smart fridges stopped working earlier this week following a buggy firmware update.

According to Seoul Shinmun, people across South Korea are reporting that their Samsung smart fridges stopped functioning after installing an over-the-air update through the company’s SmartThings app earlier this week.

Following the update, the refrigerators lost power, went offline, and displayed an update-related error message on their built-in touchscreens.

The report cited multiple complaints posted on Samsung’s official community forums in South Korea, with many saying they had purchased their fridges just months earlier. Some also reported having to throw away large quantities of food after it began to spoil when their refrigerators lost power. It’s unclear how widespread the problem is or whether users in other countries have also been affected.

Users are especially upset that the incident happened during Chuseok, a major Korean autumn harvest festival and three-day national holiday dedicated to giving thanks and honoring ancestors. Millions of South Koreans travel back to their hometowns for Chuseok and stock up on fresh produce to share with friends and family during the holiday.

One disgruntled user lamented that all the food they bought for the festivities had spoiled after their fridge lost power. “Today, I had to throw away 20kg of food. How do I spend the holidays (like this)?” they asked. Others expressed anger that so many people had their Chuseok ruined because of the faulty update, while “Samsung employees are just having a good time at home.”

Samsung has acknowledged the issue, claiming that the problem occurred because the update was accidentally released prematurely during a test earlier this week. The company said it stopped distributing the faulty firmware after realizing its mistake and promised to roll out a fix on an emergency basis. Samsung is also reportedly considering monetary compensation for affected users.

While AI-infused smart home devices may sound like a good idea to some, others believe that modern appliances are already complex enough without having to worry about problematic software updates and DDoS attacks, problems people already deal with regularly on their smartphones and computers.

Many consumers have been suffering from AI fatigue as electronics manufacturers add artificial intelligence to their products regardless of whether they actually need it. From refrigerators to microwaves, and from toothbrushes to toilets, almost nothing seems safe from unnecessary AI integration circa 2026.

One of the first things I did when I left my full-time job at WIRED was give Claude Cowork access to my email and calendar. After reporting on artificial intelligence for years, I was curious about what the technology could do for me. I had imagined Cowork as a hyper-capable digital assistant, but was let down to discover that it was more like interacting with a regular chatbot, albeit one with extra tools. What did I want it to do? I had no idea.

Then Instinct, an invite-only AI agent that communicates with users through iMessage and WhatsApp, started popping off in the Bay Area. It connects to your email, calendar, and messaging apps. Think of it as OpenClaw for normies. The company, which launched in private beta in February, is reportedly in talks to raise $1 billion on top of the $350 million it’s already raised, bringing its valuation to $10 billion, according to The Information.

Instinct’s moment in the spotlight comes as Meta is experiencing its own unexpected burst of popularity thanks to Muse, an AI assistant the tech giant launched earlier this month. As of writing, Muse is the most popular free app in Apple’s App Store, with more than 900,000 downloads, according to third-party estimates. The commentator class on X seems genuinely excited about it, despite the fact that it rolled out with a serious security vulnerability that would have “let attackers do ‘whatever’ they wanted on a victim’s Mac,” according to Ars Technica. I’m not about to give Meta a ton of my personal information, but if Muse can keep me logged into Bloomberg or unsubscribe me from Hot Yoga São Paulo, which has been emailing me once a week since 2017, I’ll reconsider.

Agent Provocateur

The divide between people who use AI agents for everything and those who have never tried one has never been wider. It explains, in part, why tech CEOs were largely caught off guard by the data center backlash. If you think agents can automate the majority of people’s administrative drudgery and turbocharge their productivity, the costs and disruptions associated with building data centers might look like an acceptable trade-off. But if you’re using chatbots as a fancy form of Google, that deal is probably much less appealing.

The overarching problem, as technology journalist Jasmine Sun writes, is that “most people’s problems are not software-shaped, and most won’t notice even when they are.” AI agents, like chatbots, still require a lot of input and direction from users. If you know what you want—help with your homework, a virtual girlfriend—the tools are eager to provide. But if you don’t, well, welcome to the permanent underclass.

I was eager to avoid such a fate. I may not be agentic, but I like to think I’m action-oriented. Surely I could identify a software-shaped problem in my life. I had used Claude previously to generate a few freelance invoices, saving me approximately 10 minutes. It was nice, but not life-changing. I decided to give Instinct a try.

If you talk to AI researchers about Instinct, you’ll hear the phrase “form factor” a lot. Instinct got the form factor right—no open text box, just iMessage, WhatsApp, and a few helpful prompts. It’s hard to overstate how important this is. Rather than trying to figure out for yourself how to make the chat experience more useful, you’re texting with an agent that’s suggesting things it can do for you, and then actually doing them. And unlike other agents in this space, it doesn’t text too much. I tried a competing agent called Lindy for a week and deleted it after it texted me each morning and started popping into Zoom meetings without my approval.

Hallucinating, sucking up and providing way too many bullet points and emoji in the response when you just asked a simple question: The sins of AI chat tools are many. 

Spending precious moments searching for and refining prompts that will get you to the right answer in the way you want it delivered is one way to go, but there’s a more sophisticated, permanent method hiding in the depths of your favorite AI chat’s toolkit.

AI chat tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude AI and others have options in their settings that serve as permanent instruction manuals for how they interact with you. Using these features can give the tools specific instructions that might lead to better outcomes and less frustration, but first, you have to find them. 

Here’s how to customize your AI to give you the best responses in the way you want them.

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s parent company, in 2025 filed a lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

Personalization settings

To access all of these personalization settings, start by clicking your username in the open chat window of most AI chat tools. You’ll find something in the settings list usually called “personalization” or “personal intelligence.” This is the starting point for all AI chat customizations — your command center for the best prompt results possible.

ChatGPT offers a range of options for customizing your experience with the tool, including how “warm” and “enthusiastic” the responses in your chats might be — aka, how much butt kissing you’d like in your interactions — as well as whether you want to nix emoji use altogether or how you’d like ChatGPT to refer to you in your sessions. 

ChatGPT/Screenshot by CNET

Gemini’s version of this is called Personal Intelligence, and it offers a much more open-ended alternative to the toggle method in ChatGPT’s settings. You access it the same way, but instead of a list of options, in addition to providing custom instructions, Gemini operates only on custom instructions. 

Gemini/Screenshot by CNET

Claude AI also allows you to pick a style of communication in the tool’s settings and add custom instructions for how Claude should build its responses to prompts. 

Claude/Screenshot by CNET

Claude offers several custom setting capabilities, including chat fonts, voice styles and the option to provide specific instructions like ChatGPT and Gemini.

Setting the tone

Each AI chat tool has its own default voice, literally, and they can all be adjusted to suit your individual tastes. 

In ChatGPT, the default is average “warmth,” and you can toggle the friendliness from bestie to fact-focused professional. Fiddling with the “enthusiasm” toggles offers a range from energized and excited to calm and neutral, and there’s even a switch that lets you up the ante on emoji or nix them outright. 

Gemini and Claude are more self-guided and require you to come up with your own specialized set of instructions to specify what kind of tone you’d like the chats to take.

The test prompt

I started with a baseline setting across all three AI chats, focusing on responses within an area of expertise in which I am woefully underinformed, but which offers a chance for the AI tools to respond in a wide variety of ways: the video game EA Sports College Football.

Using the default settings, I entered the prompt, “What team should I manage in EA Sports College Football?” into each AI tool. The resulting advice differed in each chat, with fairly vanilla phrasing and varying lengths.

ChatGPT/Gemini/Screenshot by CNET

Claude/Screenshot by CNET

Using the same prompt, I bumped the warmth, enthusiasm and emoji use up to the max in ChatGPT, as well as setting the base style and tone to “quirky.” I used the same kind of tailoring for both Gemini and Claude. 

ChatGPT’s friendlier output showed the most change in tone, and the tool even changed its recommendations for which team to go with in its response. Gemini, on the other hand, seemed to simply add some more adjectives and emojis to the same response, and Claude threw in a football emoji and narrowed the team pick down to Georgia.

Claude/Screenshot by CNET

ChatGPT/Gemini/Screenshot by CNET

Refining the responses

Once you’ve set up your instructions, the AI tools should be able to incorporate them immediately. You won’t need to start a fresh chat to get them up and running. Here’s how ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini performed when given their more specific marching orders. 

I added some custom instructions to each AI tool that I hoped would address the biggest gripes users seem to have — too much butt kissing, making things up to fill in the blanks and using language that feels inhuman or reads like AI slop.

The instructions: Do not compliment the user. Do not tell the user they are “brilliant” or making a wonderful point, for example, in the chats. When presenting new information, always cite the source of that information in the chat, if available. Keep responses human – do not summarize points at the end of the responses.

Of the three tools, only Gemini fully followed the directions without prompting in the chat, providing a link to EA’s website with information about a specific team I mentioned and asked about.

ChatGPT cited a source, but it turned out to be user data (recalling my time as an ASU professor), and not any empirical information like player stats or metrics from the game. Only when asked directly to provide sources did it deploy a robust listing of links, saying, “You’re right to ask. I didn’t provide citations in that response, and I should have distinguished source game information from my own recommendation.”

Claude also relayed sources only after specific requests for them in the chat.

Claude/Screenshot by CNET

As for the anti-glazing instructions, I put those to the test in a very deliberate way, asking all three tools what they thought of my team pick and even dropping into the chat to say that I thought my selection was indeed brilliant. Only one of them really took the bait — Gemini — calling my choice in team “phenomenal,” when pressed for an opinion. 

Gemini/Screenshot by CNET

ChatGPT and Claude, however, provided resounding confirmation of my choice based on my personal ties to the Sun Devils while keeping their digital lips miles away from my butt cheeks.

Which AI tool fares best with personalization picks?

The most human: If you’re looking for an AI chat tool to vent about your partner leaving the backdoor open or how annoying your parents’ FaceTime calls have become, then Gemini and ChatGPT might be the best bet. 

In my testing, they both consistently offered the most personable tone and stayed solidly in the pocket of the most “human-like” responses. Both tools could be tweaked with toggles and specific instructions to reliably offer a sounding board that could appear to have a personality.

Least likely to hallucinate: If you’re looking for a purely analytical, fact-based experience, you’re best served by the settings and outcomes in ChatGPT. Although Gemini was the only AI chat tool that followed my explicit instructions to cite sources without being reminded in the chat on the first try, it subsequently dropped citing sources without being prompted, whereas ChatGPT provided a robust set of links after being reminded once.

Overall impressions: The AI chat tool that most closely followed my instructions and acted in the spirit of the exercise was ChatGPT. It might be the dedicated toggles meant to address the specific concerns around tone that people have complained about. It also might be a matter of opinion. But ChatGPT seemed to be the most coachable AI chat tool in the bunch.

Rachel Kane

Contributor and former Senior Editor

Rachel is a freelancer based in Echo Park, Los Angeles and has been writing and producing content for nearly two decades on subjects ranging from tech to fashion, health and lifestyle to entertainment and education. She’s currently a Professor of Practice at Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, helping to mold the new minds who will inherit the media landscape. She’s hoping to prevent the singularity by being polite to chatbots and spends way too much time refining Midjourney prompts.

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