List of AI models and what they're best at in my experience

Life

General quick answers

Getting quick info that doesn't require citations. Examples: quick recipie ideas, cooking help ('sauce doesn't have enough body, how to fix'), diy tips, etc

• Gemini 2.5 pro (currently free): Google AI Studio

Light research

• Perplexity
• Gemini with 'grounding with Google search' enabled Google AI Studio Click the 'grounding with Google Search' switch on the menu on the right side of the screen

Medium research

For questions where more than a few Google searches are required.

• Grok with 'Deep Research' enabled: download the Grok app, sign up

Deep Research

For really important, complex topics with multiple criteria. For example creating a detailed checklist of all the things to check yourself when viewing a 1930's Andalucian home that needs restoration, what photos to take for a surveyor's intitial thoughts, and what angles to take photos from with a drone.

• ChatGPT Deep Research mode (only 10 per month included): ChatGPT and click the Deep Research button

Image generation

• ChatGPT and ask it to create an image. Make sure you have the gpt-4o model selected at the dropdown at the top of the screen.

Coding

Best for planning

• Claude 3.7 Sonnet

Best for implementing

• In Cursor Chat mode: Gemini 2.5 Pro
• In Cursor Agent mode: Claude 3.5 Sonnet (3.7 is an 'overachiever' and causes more issues than it's worth)

Writing

• OpenAI GPT 4.5

Exploring ideas

• o1 for in depth logical chains of thought
• DeepSeek R1 for not being afraid to challenge you
• GPT 4.5 for weaving together disperse threads into a narrative
• Grok 3 for critical thinking - similar to DeepSeek but with a more western bias