OpenAI recently released GPT-5, with claims of a new state-of-the-art model that tops benchmarks. After spending some time with it, my initial impression is that it is a decent model, but it doesn’t feel groundbreaking to me. However, I’ve come to realize that this release probably wasn’t intended for power users like me. For most people, this model is a much bigger deal.

Power users and everyday users

Before GPT-5, I used OpenAI’s o3 model almost exclusively since March. As I’ve discussed in a previous post, I have high regard for o3, mainly because of its “agentic” nature. It could actively search the web to gather context and provide more reliable answers. This ability to use tools and retrieve context on its own, in my opinion, separates a useful AI from a toy.

This is why it sometimes frustrates me to see friends and colleagues, even those with a ChatGPT Plus subscription, stick to the basic GPT-4o model. They often complain that it hallucinates or makes things up, and when I ask which model they’re using, most of the time it’s the 4o model. A model without a dedicated reasoning process and tool usage is going to be less reliable for complex tasks. I’ve made it a personal rule to never trust a non-reasoning model for anything beyond simple tasks like drafting an email or editing my writing.

The value of a “thinking” model comes from test-time compute scaling. When you allow a model to think harder about a problem, the result is usually much better than what a non-reasoning model can produce. With GPT-5, this capability is now dynamically available to everyone.

The router

The most significant change with GPT-5 may not be the base model itself, but the introduction of the router. This system dynamically decides whether a query requires the deeper “GPT-5 Thinking” model or can be handled by a simpler one.

A recent article from SemiAnalysis by Dylan Patel and his team opened my eyes to the business implications of this. They argue that the router could help OpenAI monetize its massive base of free users. The router can distinguish between a trivial query like, “What is the capital of France?” and a commercially valuable one like, “What are the best running shoes I can buy?”

The first query doesn’t require deep reasoning and is cheap to answer. The second has high commercial intent. The router can allocate more resources to it, use web search, and provide a detailed recommendation. This creates an opportunity for OpenAI to take a transaction fee or affiliate revenue, turning the chatbot into something closer to a monetizable super-app. It’s a way to monetize without resorting to intrusive ads, which Sam Altman has expressed a distaste for.

While I agree that the router enables this, I’d push back slightly and argue that a sufficiently advanced model could theoretically make these decisions on its own. Still, implementing it as a dedicated router is a clear product choice.

Final Thoughts

My experience with GPT-5 has solidified a key belief: always use a thinking model. Since its release, I’ve used “GPT-5 Thinking” exclusively, and I don’t care about the automatic routing for my own use.

If you’re reading this, the main takeaway I want to leave you with is this: whenever you have the choice, use the model that thinks. The difference in quality and reliability is huge. For the average user, GPT-5’s real benefit is making that choice for them and bringing reasoning models to many more people.