3.5 to 4 was the most major leap. It went from being a party trick to legitimately useful sometimes. It did hallucinate a lot but I was still able to get some use out of it. I wouldn't count on it for most things however. It could answer simple questions and get it right mostly but never one or two levels deep.
I clearly remember 4o was also a decent leap - the accuracy increased substantially. It could answer niche questions without much hallucination. I could essentially replace it with Google for basic to slightly complex fact checking.
* 4o was the first time I actually considered paying for this tool. The $20 price was finally worth it.
o1 models were also a big leap over 4o (I realise I have been saying big leap too many times but it is true). The accuracy increased again and I got even more confident using it for niche topics. I would have to verify the results much less often. Oh and coding capabilities dramatically improved here in the thinking model. o1 essentially invented oneshotting - slightly non trivial apps could be made just by one prompt for the first time.
3.5 to 4 was the most major leap. It went from being a party trick to legitimately useful sometimes. It did hallucinate a lot but I was still able to get some use out of it. I wouldn't count on it for most things however. It could answer simple questions and get it right mostly but never one or two levels deep.
I clearly remember 4o was also a decent leap - the accuracy increased substantially. It could answer niche questions without much hallucination. I could essentially replace it with Google for basic to slightly complex fact checking.
* 4o was the first time I actually considered paying for this tool. The $20 price was finally worth it.
o1 models were also a big leap over 4o (I realise I have been saying big leap too many times but it is true). The accuracy increased again and I got even more confident using it for niche topics. I would have to verify the results much less often. Oh and coding capabilities dramatically improved here in the thinking model. o1 essentially invented oneshotting - slightly non trivial apps could be made just by one prompt for the first time.
o3 jump was incremental and so was gpt 5.