OpenAI has recently introduced its new AI model with advanced reasoning skills. OpenAI o1, which is possibly codenamed Project Strawberry, is designed to solve complex tasks involving math, coding, and other complex problems. The company claims that the model will also be able to answer PHD-level scientific questions with future updates. OpenAI’s latest offering, o1, appears to be a remarkable achievement building on the phenomenal success of GPT 4o. The rapid development and release of this new model demonstrates the company’s commitment to continuous improvement and innovation with the goal of further enhancing human productivity and capabilities. Meanwhile, talking about the new model, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has described it as “still flawed, still limited.”

OpenAI o1: Is it flawed?

Altman emphasized that since this is the first version of the new model, it has many limitations. The shortcomings are not because the existing features do not work, but because the new model has some shortcomings. For example, it does not have image support, it is a bit slow to respond and more. Let’s look at this in detail.

As an early model, it does not have features like browsing the web for information and uploading files and images. This means that, for now, it can only take text prompts. So, if you think you can just click a picture, upload it here, and it will solve the problem, it cannot do that right now. You have to write down the math problem and only then OpenAI o1 will solve it.

The OpenAI release states that the O1 model is slightly slower than the other models. The company argues that since it is designed to “think before answering,” it takes its time to solve the problem. OpenAI said in the release that it has trained these models to spend more time thinking about problems before answering, just like a human would. The model uses a “chain of thought” to process questions, just like humans process problems by solving them step-by-step.

OpenAI o1 vs GPT 4o

Media reports are comparing the first version of OpenAI o1 to GPT 4o, but is it viable? I don’t think so. Let me take you back to the time when OpenAI released ChatGPT. Launched in 2022, this platform took the AI ​​world by storm. At the time, it did not have image support just like OpenAI o1. Similarly, this is the first version of the AI ​​”reasoning” model trained to answer more complex questions. Asking for everything that OpenAI has already offered in the advanced GPT version is pointless. The company also says that GPT-4o will be more capable in the near future in many common cases.

Moreover, introducing image support in ChatGPT also created an easy way for hallucinations. For now, OpenAI o1 is free from this for a large part. We need to understand that this model is aimed at a different group of people. The company also said, “These enhanced reasoning capabilities can be particularly useful if you are tackling complex problems in science, coding, mathematics, and similar fields. For example, o1 can be used by healthcare researchers to annotate cell sequencing data, by physicists to create complex mathematical formulas needed for quantum optics, and by developers from all fields to create and execute multi-step workflows.”

Check out the graph posted by the CEO, which shows how the new model works:

OpenAI o1 is priced very high. In the API, o1-preview is $15 for 1 million input tokens and $60 for 1 million output tokens. For comparison, GPT 4o is priced at $5 for 1 million input tokens and $2.50 for 1 million output tokens. For India, this means that while GPT 4o is available at around Rs 420 per month for 1 million input tokens, users will have to pay Rs 1,260 to access OpenAI o1. Although the company has also released a cheaper version, OpenAI o1 Mini, along with it, major updates are expected to come to the original version.

This model has been rolled out to all ChatGPT Plus and Team users. It will be interesting to see how the Indian audience will react to the price. Will we start trying OpenAI o1 or continue using GPT 4o and wait for more updates to come out? I bet on the latter option.