Stop wasting time figuring out GPT-5. This guide gives you everything you need to dominate the latest AI – fast.
On August 7, 2025, OpenAI dropped GPT-5 and changed everything. But here's what they didn't tell you upfront: it's not just one model anymore.
GPT-5 is actually two brains working together – a fast chat model for quick stuff and a deeper "thinking" model for complex work. A smart router decides which one to use, but you can take control when you need to.
The launch was messy. OpenAI killed off GPT-4o, users freaked out, and they had to bring it back as a "legacy model." That drama taught us something important: people don't just care about raw performance – they care about how AI feels to work with.
Most people are using GPT-5 wrong. They're missing out on its deeper reasoning power because they don't know how to ask for it properly.
This guide fixes that. In 10 minutes, you'll know exactly how to get the best out of GPT-5, when to use which mode, and how to access the thinking power that most users never touch.
Think of GPT-5 like having two different experts on speed dial:
The router is like a smart assistant that picks which expert to call based on what you're asking. But you can override it anytime.
Auto Mode: Let the router decide (good for mixed work) Fast Mode: Force speed over depth (quick answers only)
Thinking Mode: Force deep reasoning (complex problems)