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Is this the “Web Search”, “Deep Research”, or “Agent Mode” feature of ChatGPT? Navigating their feature set is… fun.

by j_bum 1y ago

yunohn 1y ago
I have a feeling this is just ChatGPT 5 in thinking mode, with web search enabled at a profile level at least. Even without that, any indication for recent data or research and thinking will prompt it to think+research quite a bit, ie deep research.
650REDHAIR 1y ago
In my experience it’s “search Reddit and combine comments”.
- dontdoxxme 1y ago
  There are searches where that is the best way for a human to get the answer too. It can also search the Internet Archive if you ask for historical details, so does it not just do what a good human researcher would do?
simonw 1y ago
It's not the Deep Search or Agent Mode. I select "GPT-5 Thinking" from the model picker and make sure its regular search tool is enabled.
- j_bum 1y ago
  Good to know, I’ll try to just use this a bit more then. I always opt for one of the above modes, with varying degrees of success. Not sure if you tend to edit your posts, but it could be worth clarifying. Btw — my colleagues and I all love your posts. I’ll quit fanboying now lol.
- jonahx 1y ago
  > This is excellent for satisfying curiosity, and occasionally useful for more important endeavors as well. Small nit, Simon: satisfying curiosity is the important endeavor. <3
  - dclowd9901 1y ago
    It feels like the difference between someone painstakingly brushing away eons of dirt and calcification on buried dino bones vs just picking them up off the ground. In the former, the research feels genuine and in the latter it feels hollow and probably fake.
iguana2000 1y ago
I believe this is just the normal mode. In my experience, you don't have to select the web search option to make it search the web. I wonder why they have web search as an option at this point (to force the llm to search?)
movedx01 1y ago
Don't forget about the "ChatGPT 5 Pro" too :) which is a bit like Deep Research but not quite?

Is this the “Web Search”, “Deep Research”, or “Agent Mode” feature of ChatGPT? Navigating their feature set is… fun.

by j_bum 1y ago

Is this the “Web Search”, “Deep Research”, or “Agent Mode” feature of ChatGPT? Navigating their feature set is… fun.

I have a feeling this is just ChatGPT 5 in thinking mode, with web search enabled at a profile level at least. Even without that, any indication for recent data or research and thinking will prompt it to think+research quite a bit, ie deep research.

650REDHAIR 1y ago

In my experience it’s “search Reddit and combine comments”.

dontdoxxme 1y ago
There are searches where that is the best way for a human to get the answer too. It can also search the Internet Archive if you ask for historical details, so does it not just do what a good human researcher would do?

simonw 1y ago

It's not the Deep Search or Agent Mode. I select "GPT-5 Thinking" from the model picker and make sure its regular search tool is enabled.

j_bum 1y ago
Good to know, I’ll try to just use this a bit more then. I always opt for one of the above modes, with varying degrees of success. Not sure if you tend to edit your posts, but it could be worth clarifying. Btw — my colleagues and I all love your posts. I’ll quit fanboying now lol.
jonahx 1y ago
> This is excellent for satisfying curiosity, and occasionally useful for more important endeavors as well. Small nit, Simon: satisfying curiosity is the important endeavor. <3
- dclowd9901 1y ago
  It feels like the difference between someone painstakingly brushing away eons of dirt and calcification on buried dino bones vs just picking them up off the ground. In the former, the research feels genuine and in the latter it feels hollow and probably fake.

iguana2000 1y ago

I believe this is just the normal mode. In my experience, you don't have to select the web search option to make it search the web. I wonder why they have web search as an option at this point (to force the llm to search?)

movedx01 1y ago

Don't forget about the "ChatGPT 5 Pro" too :) which is a bit like Deep Research but not quite?