ChatGPT

Overview

OpenAI's flagship conversational AI. The largest ecosystem of custom GPTs, best-in-class general capabilities, and the most recognized brand in AI. From writing to coding to analysis — it handles almost everything reasonably well.

My Experience with ChatGPT

I've been using ChatGPT almost every day since it launched, and my relationship with it has evolved a lot. It's no longer the "wow, this thing can write!" moment — it's become more like a utility, a thinking partner I reach for automatically. Here's how I actually use it and where I think it earns its keep.

Daily workflows: writing, coding, brainstorming

My morning usually starts with a quick ChatGPT session. Not for anything dramatic — it's mostly "help me phrase this email better" or "what's a cleaner way to structure this function." For writing, I use it to get unstuck: I'll dump a rough outline and ask it to suggest a narrative arc, then rewrite everything myself. The drafts it produces are rarely publish-ready, but they break the blank-page paralysis faster than anything else I've tried.

For coding, I treat ChatGPT like a well-read senior developer who can look at a single file and give solid advice, but who hasn't seen your whole codebase. It's great for: writing one-off scripts, explaining what an unfamiliar function does, generating boilerplate I don't want to type, and talking through algorithm choices. Where it falls short is multi-file reasoning — for that I switch to Claude Code or Cursor. Knowing when to switch is half the skill.

Brainstorming is where ChatGPT genuinely shines for me. I'll throw a half-formed product idea at it and ask for 10 angles I haven't considered. It generates fast, the quality varies, but there's almost always one idea in the batch that's actually useful. I've shipped features that started as a throwaway ChatGPT suggestion.

Custom GPTs: the underrated superpower

Most people try ChatGPT's standard interface and stop there. The Custom GPT ecosystem changes the game. A Custom GPT is basically a saved system prompt plus optional uploaded files and tools — but that simple description undersells how useful they are in practice.

I have two Custom GPTs I use constantly. The first is a code review GPT: I've given it a system prompt that describes my team's conventions (naming style, preferred patterns, things we always flag in PRs). When I paste a chunk of code, it reviews it through that lens rather than giving generic advice. It saves me from bikeshedding on PRs and catches things I'd otherwise miss after staring at the same code for hours.

The second is an email drafting GPT. I've uploaded examples of emails I consider well-written and given it instructions about tone — direct but not terse, no filler phrases, always lead with the ask. Now when I need to write a difficult message (declining a partnership, following up on a late payment, giving tough feedback), I paste in the context and get a draft that sounds like me, not like a LinkedIn post.

Building Custom GPTs takes maybe 20 minutes if you already know what you want. The ROI is massive if you do any repetitive type of communication or review work.

GPT-4o vs GPT-4o mini — when to use which

GPT-4o mini is faster and cheaper (essentially free at the Plus tier for most tasks). I use it for anything where I want quick output and I'm not worried about subtle reasoning quality: summarizing a document, generating a first draft I'm going to heavily edit, answering a factual question I'll verify anyway. GPT-4o is what I reach for when the task requires actual thinking — complex code, nuanced analysis, anything where I'd be frustrated by a confidently wrong answer. In practice, I default to mini and upgrade to 4o when the response feels shallow.

Voice mode: better than it sounds

Voice mode is genuinely underrated. I use it for thinking out loud — I'll describe a problem verbally while walking, and the back-and-forth helps me find the flaw in my reasoning faster than typing. It's not about dictating commands; it's about the act of explaining something to another "person" and being asked follow-up questions. There's something about speaking that forces clarity. I've talked through architectural decisions, worked out how to handle a difficult conversation with a colleague, and even used it to prep for client calls. If you haven't tried it for 20 minutes straight, you're missing something.

The system prompt trick for consistent output

One habit that improved my results dramatically: I open every new conversation with a system prompt-style message before asking my actual question. Something like: "You are helping a developer write clear, technical documentation. Be concise. Use bullet points for steps. Avoid filler phrases like 'Certainly!' or 'Great question!'" Then I ask my question. The output quality and consistency improves noticeably. You don't need a Custom GPT for this — just paste a setup block and go.

Honest weaknesses I've run into

Hallucinations on recent events are still a real problem. ChatGPT will confidently cite a paper that doesn't exist, invent a version number, or describe a feature that was deprecated. This isn't a dealbreaker — it just means you verify anything you can't afford to get wrong. For current events or anything time-sensitive, I go straight to Perplexity, which is built for retrieval rather than generation.

Context window limitations are the other friction point. ChatGPT Plus gives you a 128k context window, which sounds like a lot until you're trying to analyze a large codebase or a book-length document. Claude's context window and how it uses context is genuinely better for long-document work in my experience — it seems to "remember" earlier parts of a long conversation more reliably.

Is ChatGPT Plus worth $20/month?

Honest answer: yes, if you use it three or more times per week for real work. If you're using it occasionally to generate a birthday card, stick with free. But if AI assistance is part of your actual workflow — writing, coding, research, communication — $20/month is cheap compared to what an hour of your time costs. The jump from free (with daily caps that kick in at the worst moment) to Plus (unlimited, faster, with voice and image generation) is meaningful. I've been a Plus subscriber since month two and I've never thought about cancelling.

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