Hey Reader,

Hard truth from last week's messy launch of GPT-5: being the best at training AI models doesn't automatically make you good at delivering consumer products.

As I discussed with my AI Consultancy Project students yesterday, this disconnect between technical excellence and user experience creates chaos for the world's most popular companies, and introduces new opportunities for those of us guiding organizations through the AI revolution.

The ‘Abrupt Transition’ Problem

OpenAI's rollout of GPT-5 was an embarrassing public example of what happens when a data science company tries to act like a consumer product company without the necessary expertise. By removing access to previous models (GPT-4, GPT-4o, o3, and others) from the ChatGPT interface with zero warning, they pulled the rug out from under hundreds of millions of active users.

People woke up to realize that the version of ChatGPT they’d been using daily had vanished, replaced by something new that works differently. Some had even developed specific workflows - and in extreme cases, emotional attachments - to particular models. While developing an emotional attachment to a bot is likely a very unhealthy way to use AI, it represents real user behavior that any consumer-focused company would have anticipated and managed carefully.

While the model is likely a lot better from a tech standpoint, the botched rollout made it very difficult for anyone to really appreciate the leap forward in quality and intelligence - and the biggest win, which is a dramatic reduction in hallucinations.

The Data Science Company vs. Consumer Product Company Divide

This fumbled launch highlights a fundamental difference between companies like OpenAI and consumer product giants like Apple or Meta. When Apple releases a new iOS version, they:

• Provide weeks of advance notice
• Offer clear migration paths
• Allow users to delay updates if needed
• Maintain backward compatibility for essential features
• Test extensively with beta users

OpenAI, by contrast, approached this launch like a research paper release: "Here's the new thing, it's technically superior, the old thing is gone." This betrays their DNA as a company of data scientists and researchers rather than consumer product experts.

The naming convention chaos further illustrates this point. We've gone from GPT-3 to 3.5 to 4 to 4o to 4.5 (released before 4.1!) to 5, with various "mini" and "nano" variants thrown in. Compare this to Apple's straightforward iPhone numbering or even Meta's clear platform versioning. When even power users struggle to understand your product lineup, you have a consumer experience problem.

The TiVo Warning

I often reference TiVo when discussing OpenAI's future risks. TiVo invented the DVR, fundamentally changing how we watch television. Today, they barely exist. Why? Because they were a technology company that got outmaneuvered by large, incumbent consumer product and infrastructure companies who took their innovation and wrapped it in better user experiences.

OpenAI faces the same risk. Yes, they're currently the most popular software company in history. Yes, GPT-5 represents genuine technical advancement with reduced hallucinations and improved capabilities. But when Google, Apple, and Meta - companies with decades of consumer product expertise and a huge infrastructure advantage - catch up on the AI technology side, OpenAI's poor user experience could become a fatal weakness.

How to Frame This for Clients and Stakeholders

As consultants and advisors, these product launches offer valuable lessons for how we position ourselves and guide our clients:

1. Become the Stability in the Chaos

Don't position yourself as someone who chases every new model or feature. Instead, be the trusted advisor who helps organizations navigate change thoughtfully. When clients ask about GPT-5, your response shouldn't be "Let's switch everything immediately!" but rather "Let's evaluate how this fits into your workflow and what benefits it might bring."

2. Adopt a Model-Agnostic Approach

The rapid changes in AI models mean that being wedded to any particular platform is risky. I personally use Claude for most writing tasks because it produces more human-sounding content, while I might use GPT-5 for coding or complex reasoning. Help your clients understand that different tools excel at different tasks.

3. Prepare for Continuous Change

Make it clear to stakeholders that the AI landscape will continue evolving rapidly. This isn't a bug - it's a feature that creates ongoing opportunities for optimization and improvement. Your value lies not in knowing about the latest model, but in helping organizations adapt to change while maintaining productivity.

4. Focus on Anti-Fragility

Build systems and processes that thrive on change rather than break from it. This means:

• Creating workflows that can easily swap between AI models
• Maintaining fallback options when primary tools fail
• Building abstraction layers between your core processes and specific AI tools
• Documenting decisions and rationales for future reference

5. Highlight Hidden Benefits

While the user experience was poor, GPT-5 does bring real improvements: lower costs per token, faster processing, and significantly reduced hallucinations. A good advisor finds the silver lining and helps clients capitalize on improvements while mitigating disruptions.

The Bigger Picture

The GPT-5 launch reminds us that in the AI-powered future, technical superiority alone isn't enough. The winners will be those who combine cutting-edge AI capabilities with thoughtful user experience and change management.

For consultants and business leaders, this creates opportunity. Your clients need someone who can:

• Shield them from the chaos of poorly managed transitions
• Translate technical improvements into business value
• Maintain operational stability while adopting beneficial changes
• Provide perspective on what changes matter versus what's just noise

The AI industry will continue to see these kinds of stumbles as data nerds who get paid like pro athletes learn (sometimes painfully) about consumer product development. Your role is to be the steady hand that guides organizations through these transitions, ensuring they benefit from AI advances without suffering from the growing pains of an immature industry.

As a trusted advisor to your clients or company, your value isn't in breathlessly reporting every new development. It's in being the filter that helps organizations adopt the right technologies at the right time in the right way. The GPT-5 launch has made that service more valuable than ever.

Until next time,

– Rob

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