These days, it appears like there’s a brand new ChatGPT model popping up each different day. There’s GPT-4o, the all-rounder, o3, the deep thinker, some speedy “mini” fashions that nobody is aware of what they do, GPT-4.5 for inventive writing, and some legacy variations you most likely would wish to keep away from. So in case you’ve ever puzzled which ChatGPT model to choose to your task- you aren’t alone! Even consultants wrestle to resolve which ChatGPT model to make use of and when.
However a number of days again Andrej Karpathy made his opinions clear! On this information, I’ll stroll you thru Andrej Karpathy’s solutions and preferences concerning every ChatGPT model so you’ll find the one which fits you finest.
ChatGPT Variations
ChatGPT at present provides three totally different subscriptions, every with its personal set of ChatGPT variations which you can entry. Here’s a breakdown of it:
| Sort of Subscription | ChatGPT variations |
|---|---|
| Free | GPT‑4.1 mini (limitless), GPT‑4o, o4-mini (restricted) |
| Plus ($20/month) | GPT-4o, o3, o4-mini, o4-mini-high, GPT‑4.5, GPT‑4.1, GPT‑4.1-mini |
| Professional ($200/month) | GPT-4o, o3, o4-mini, o4-mini-high, GPT‑4.5, GPT‑4.1, GPT‑4.1-mini, o1 professional mode |
Most of those variations deliver one thing distinctive and are specialised for various duties. Utilizing a single mannequin for your entire duties is a factor of the previous once we didn’t have the choices. Now it’s about utilizing the fitting mannequin for every activity. However not all fashions are value it and a few of them are simply to be ignored – not less than that’s what’s Andrej Karparthy’s opinion.
Let’s break down his evaluation of all of the ChatGPT variations.
Decoding ChaGPT Fashions with Andrej Karpathy
Andrej Karpathy is a well known AI researcher recognized for his work in deep studying and pc imaginative and prescient. Final week he shared his ideas on numerous LLMs that ChatGPT has to supply.
GPT-4o
“Use this mannequin for something simple and quick. It’s nice for normal duties”
– Andrej Karparthy
GPT-4o is essentially the most dependable mannequin beneath the ChatGPT hood. The mannequin is designed to offer a stability between pace and accuracy. It handles all kinds of duties with nice ease and coherence, making it very best for many of our day-to-day duties. Whether or not it’s essential whip up an electronic mail, write a weblog submit, or reply a normal question, GPT-4o has your again.
Which duties to make use of GPT-4o for?
- Writing emails, social media posts, and blogs
- Answering FAQs or normal data questions
- Gentle coding help like easy perform era or debugging
- Summarizing articles or paperwork
- Informal dialog and brainstorming
The place it struggles: It’s much less efficient for deeply complicated reasoning or duties requiring multi-step logic and precision, the place specialised fashions carry out higher.
My take: GPT-4o is the perfect default mannequin for many customers – quick, versatile, and dependable. It’s the go-to selection for on a regular basis AI help.
o3
“Use this mannequin for something laborious and necessary. The mannequin is gradual however tremendous clever”
– Andrej Karparthy
Now, o3 is the “thinker” within the ChatGPT mannequin household. This mannequin is optimized for superior reasoning and sophisticated problem-solving. It trades pace for intelligence, giving detailed responses on duties that require multi-step pondering or complete evaluation. So when you have a difficult doc to evaluate Or possibly only a troublesome maths drawback or equation, this mannequin takes its time to dig deep and course of laborious and give you actual options.
Which duties to make use of o3 for?
- Authorized doc evaluation and contract evaluate
- Complicated scientific analysis and information evaluation
- Debugging and explaining difficult code
- Writing detailed technical or tutorial experiences
- Duties requiring crucial, step-by-step reasoning
The place it struggles: The mannequin provides slower response occasions and better compute necessities making it much less appropriate for fast, informal duties or large-scale manufacturing environments the place pace is crucial.
My take: Use o3 when accuracy and depth matter greater than pace. It’s the heavy hitter for powerful, necessary issues.
o3 Professional
o3 Professional is the most recent addition to the ChatGPT household. This model guarantees extra computational energy than its counterpart o3 with greater accuracy for complicated queries. This model of ChatGPT comes with higher instrument integration and thus is able to offering extra relabible responses for net searches and file evaluation. In comparison with o3 it’s gradual, but when pitied in opposition to different high reasoning mode, o3 Professional performs quick. So when you have a activity that requires breaking down of complicated duties, in depth evaluation of code or maths – the mannequin may help however its really useful to validate its responses because the mannequin largely appears like a hald baked cookie.
Which duties to make use of o3 Professional for?
- Multi step code synthesis or Python execution
- Doc summarization and audit compliance
- Picture or doc evaluation
- Strategising long run enterprise targets
- Searchhing throughout totally different on-line platforms
The place is struggles: The mannequin struggles with accuracy and correct reasoning when coping with multi-pronged issues.
My take: The mannequin can be utilized for non-critical information evaluation duties or in areas the place you need a fast response for a barely troublesome activity.
Additionally Learn: OpenAI o3 professional vs Gemini 2.5 professional
o4-mini
“Don’t use this mannequin”
– Andrej Karparthy
This mannequin was launched to deliver superior reasoning at a very quick pace and that’s precisely the place issues get tough. The mannequin can generate solutions shortly however it tends to supply much less dependable and largely incoherent outcomes. Its pace might be a bonus however it doesn’t outweigh the hallucinations and inaccuracy. All of this makes it unsuitable for skilled or critical use.
Which duties to make use of o4-mini for?
- Experimental initiatives the place pace issues greater than correctness like for vibe coding.
- Informal or non-critical testing and play like for designing youngsters’s video games.
The place it struggles: The mannequin produces inconsistent, inaccurate, or incomplete solutions, particularly on technical or factual queries.
My take: Regardless of its pace, I can’t advocate it on account of poor reliability. It’s higher to decide on a slower however extra dependable mannequin.
o4-mini-high
“Don’t use this mannequin”
– Andrej Karparthy
The mannequin is a twin to o4-mini in the case of efficiency. That’s the reason just like the o4-mini, the o4-mini-high mannequin comes with speedy outputs with higher coding and visible reasoning capabilities. Nonetheless, this mannequin too has the elemental problems with poor reliability and high quality. The pace comes at the price of accuracy leading to incorrect code solutions or flawed reasoning. Except you might be testing experimental options casually, it’s best to keep away from this mannequin for crucial work.
Which duties to make use of o4-mini-high for?
- Fast, tough coding or visible reasoning demos (e.g., exhibiting an idea in a hackathon or workshop)
- AI experiments the place pace trumps correctness (e.g., playful AI-based video games or chatbots)
The place it struggles: The mannequin provides decrease output high quality and reliability; liable to errors and hallucinations.
My take: I can’t advise utilizing this mannequin for critical duties, it’s solely okay for informal enjoying.
o1 Professional Mode
“Don’t use this mannequin”
– Andrej Karparthy
o1 Professional is the grandfather for the reasoning fashions. As soon as thought-about an skilled reasoning mannequin, o1 Professional Mode is now largely outdated. The mannequin obtainable solely within the Professional model, is essentially inaccessible for a lot of. It faces powerful competitors from many new fashions by Gemini and Deepseek that present higher outcomes at a a lot decrease price. Though it may possibly nonetheless produce considerate solutions, its slower pace and outdated structure make it much less interesting for many present functions.
Which duties to make use of o1 Professional for?
- Working legacy initiatives that require backward compatibility (e.g., sustaining older AI workflows)
- Not really useful for brand new or crucial duties
The place it struggles: Slower pace, decrease accuracy in comparison with newer fashions, and lacking the most recent options.
My take: Its time to say goodbye and transfer on to raised, sooner choices.
GPT-4.1
“Use this mannequin for vibe coding”
– Andrej Karparthy
For the coders and techies, GPT-4.1 is a useful sidekick. The mannequin is made for fast and efficient coding help. It’s optimized to generate code snippets, debug scripts, and help coders effectively. It produces a fantastic stability between pace and contextual understanding, enabling quick iteration throughout growth. Whereas it could not match o3’s reasoning depth, it offers sensible coding assist that’s very best for day-to-day programming duties.
Which duties to make use of GPT-4.1 for?
- Writing, debugging, or explaining code snippets
- Fast prototyping throughout software program growth (e.g., producing boilerplate code)
- Studying programming ideas or getting fast code examples.
The place it struggles: In duties involving complicated or deeply analytical duties exterior coding.
My take: Nice for builders who need swift, stable help on their coding journey.
GPT-4.1-mini
“Don’t use this mannequin”
– Andrej Karparthy
The mini model of GPT-4.1 guarantees pace however falls brief on high quality and coherence. It typically produces poorer high quality and fewer dependable outputs than its counterparts of comparable sizes. Like different mini fashions, it’s higher fitted to experimentation or informal use relatively than critical initiatives.
Which duties to make use of GPT-4.1-mini for?
- Informal or low-stakes experiments (e.g., testing primary chatbot responses)
- Fast, casual queries that don’t require detailed solutions
The place it struggles: In duties requiring excessive output high quality higher contextual understanding.
My take: Follow the total GPT-4.1 in order for you respectable assist.
GPT-4.5 (Analysis Preview)
“Use this mannequin for inventive writing”
– Andrej Karparthy
GPT-4.5 mannequin places “artwork” in “Sensible”. The mannequin is appropriate for inventive writing and ideation. It excels at producing imaginative and engaging content material, making it good fo duties like storytelling, poetry, brainstorming, and advertising and marketing content material. This mannequin is commonly liable to inconsistencies or factual inaccuracies, its inventive power makes it a invaluable instrument for content material creators trying to transcend the same old.
Which duties to make use of GPT-4.5 for?
- Writing inventive tales, poems, or scripts (e.g., drafting a brief story or poem)
- Brainstorming promoting slogans or advertising and marketing taglines (e.g., catchy marketing campaign concepts)
- Exploring uncommon or imaginative ideas (e.g., producing fantasy world concepts)
- Ideation periods for content material creators or artists
The place it struggles: Much less constant factual accuracy and stability; not really useful for mission-critical or technical reasoning duties.
My take: A promising mannequin for inventive professionals who wish to experiment with AI-generated concepts and prose.
Deep Analysis Instrument
“Use this for deep analysis”
– Andrej Karparthy
“Run deep analysis” instrument is a sophisticated characteristic that mixes the facility of ChatGPT fashions with real-time net searches and multi-source information retrieval. It’s designed to offer thorough and up-to-date solutions. This instrument synthesizes data from a number of paperwork, making it good for in-depth analysis initiatives, tutorial work, and different complicated investigations. It’s nice for deep dives like tutorial work, market analysis, or coverage evaluation.
Which duties to make use of Deep Analysis for?
- Educational analysis that wants the most recent research and papers (e.g., compiling a literature evaluate)
- Market analysis that requires up-to-date trade traits (e.g., analyzing competitor methods)
- Coverage and authorized evaluation involving latest laws (e.g., summarizing new legal guidelines or laws)
The place it struggles: In duties counting on web information high quality. The responses might be slower on account of search and synthesis overhead.
My take: A robust augmentation for complicated, information-heavy duties the place complete and present solutions are required.
ChatGPT Model Comparability
Here’s a concise abstract of all of the fashions at present obtainable in ChatGPT, their particulars, limitations, and a few use instances.
| Model | Description | Greatest Use Instances & Examples | Limitations |
|---|---|---|---|
| GPT-4o | Balanced, quick, dependable | Emails, blogs, gentle coding (e.g., refund electronic mail, utils) | Not for deep reasoning |
| o3 | Deep reasoning, slower | Authorized/scientific evaluation, complicated debugging | Slower, costly |
| o4-mini | Very quick, unreliable | Informal testing, experimental | Low accuracy, hallucinations |
| o4-mini-high | Quick, coding/visible claims | Experimental coding demos | Liable to errors |
| GPT-4.5 (Preview) | Inventive, imaginative | Storytelling, adverts, brainstorming | Much less constant, factual gaps |
| o1 Professional Mode | Legacy superior reasoning | Legacy techniques solely | Sluggish, outdated |
| GPT-4.1 | Quick coding help | Code era/debugging (e.g., scrapers, fixes) | Restricted complicated reasoning |
| GPT-4.1-mini | Light-weight, quick, decrease high quality | Informal experiments, casual queries | Much less dependable |
| Run Deep Analysis | Internet-augmented multi-source instrument | Educational analysis, market intel, coverage evaluation | Relying on net information, slower |
Conclusion
Makers of ChatGPT have made the GPT 4o the default mannequin within the Chatbot for a purpose – its simply what you want for any each day help. For troublesome and detailed duties, usher in o3. Its cheaper too now. For some inventive aptitude use GPT-4.5’s, whereas coders can get fast assist from GPT-4.1. Keep away from the mini fashions for something critical, and depend on the “Run deep analysis” instrument when it’s essential dig deep and pull in recent information. We agree with Andrej Karpathy’s opinion for a lot of the fashions! Out of the 9 fashions that ChatGPT at present provides – it’s simply 4 fashions which are actually value your time.
Use this information and I hope it can save you a while and maximize the standard of outputs that you simply get utilizing ChatGPT!
Anu Madan is an skilled in educational design, content material writing, and B2B advertising and marketing, with a expertise for reworking complicated concepts into impactful narratives. Along with her give attention to Generative AI, she crafts insightful, revolutionary content material that educates, conjures up, and drives significant engagement.
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