> The key insight: when you interact with modern ChatGPT, you’re not just talking to a language model - you’re collaborating with an intelligent agent that uses language models as one component of a much more sophisticated cognitive architecture that includes memory, tools, and orchestration.
AI sloppiness of this blog post aside, it's a reasonable observation.
If you're thinking about how to integrate AI into your system, it's worth asking the question of why your system isn't just ChatGPT.
- Do you have unique data you can pass as context?
- Do you have APIs or actions that are awkward to teach to other systems via MCP?
- Do you have a unique viewpoint that you are writing into your system prompt?
- Do you have a way to structure stored information that's more valuable than freeform text memories?
- etc.
For instance, we [0] are writing an agent that helps you plan migrations. You can do this with ChatGPT, but it hugely benefits from (in descending order of uniqueness) access to
1) a structured memory that's a cross between Asana and the output of `grep` in a spreadsheet,
2) a bunch of best-practice instructions on how to prep your codebase for a migration, and
3) the AI code assistant-style tools like ls, find, bash, etc.
So yeah, we're writing at agent, not building a model. And I'm not worried about ChatGPT doing this, despite the fact that GPT5 is pretty good at it.
I like this post. I see this confusion all the time! What’s the difference between ChatGPT and gpt-5 or gpt-4o, and so on. OpenAI’s carefully crafted naming schemes don’t help. Though, I come from AWS so glass houses.
Anyway, agents are control systems that using planning, tools, and a collection of underlying models. ChatGPT is an agent. What kind? The kind optimized for the general user looking to do work with public knowledge. That’s the best definition I can come up with.
Anyway, let’s make sure people understand the difference between AI systems and AI models. The former is where a lot of startup activity will be for a decade. The latter will be in the hands of a few well funded behemoths.
This is becoming a problem for me: I like to use LibreChat to interface LLMs (Gemini, GPT-x), because it allows me to pay by usage (instead of 20+ USD per month) and keep a (tiny bit) more of the data under my control.
But the offerings of ChatGPT or Google's AI Studio surpass the feature set of LibreChat by a lot. It used to be just a "better" system prompt, but now it's a lot more.
13 comments
[ 3.5 ms ] story [ 35.8 ms ] threadPredictable: Same input always produces consistent output”
There is no always.
Fwiw, right at the end
Was this written by GPT? ;)
> This isn’t just about keeping a chat history - it’s about building and maintaining a model
> Understanding this distinction isn’t just about getting the terminology right. It’s about understanding the future of human-computer interaction
> When we say “ChatGPT” when we mean “LLM,” we’re not just being sloppy - we’re obscuring fundamental architectural and strategic decisions
> when you interact with modern ChatGPT, you’re not just talking to a language model - you’re collaborating with an intelligent agent
No comment.
If you're thinking about how to integrate AI into your system, it's worth asking the question of why your system isn't just ChatGPT.
- Do you have unique data you can pass as context?
- Do you have APIs or actions that are awkward to teach to other systems via MCP?
- Do you have a unique viewpoint that you are writing into your system prompt?
- Do you have a way to structure stored information that's more valuable than freeform text memories?
- etc.
For instance, we [0] are writing an agent that helps you plan migrations. You can do this with ChatGPT, but it hugely benefits from (in descending order of uniqueness) access to
1) a structured memory that's a cross between Asana and the output of `grep` in a spreadsheet,
2) a bunch of best-practice instructions on how to prep your codebase for a migration, and
3) the AI code assistant-style tools like ls, find, bash, etc.
So yeah, we're writing at agent, not building a model. And I'm not worried about ChatGPT doing this, despite the fact that GPT5 is pretty good at it.
[0] https://tern.sh
Anyway, agents are control systems that using planning, tools, and a collection of underlying models. ChatGPT is an agent. What kind? The kind optimized for the general user looking to do work with public knowledge. That’s the best definition I can come up with.
Anyway, let’s make sure people understand the difference between AI systems and AI models. The former is where a lot of startup activity will be for a decade. The latter will be in the hands of a few well funded behemoths.
But the offerings of ChatGPT or Google's AI Studio surpass the feature set of LibreChat by a lot. It used to be just a "better" system prompt, but now it's a lot more.
It’s not acting as an agent unless it does something in the world on your behalf.