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Zeitgeist — a spike by Chris Gathercole
  1. Creators/
  2. Ethan Mollick — One Useful Thing/

An opinionated guide to which AI to use to do stuff

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  • Core argument: a practical decision guide for matching AI tool/mode to task — free/basic models for low-stakes queries, premium models (Claude Opus/Fable, ChatGPT’s GPT-5.6 Sol) for high-stakes work needing accuracy.
  • Recommends “Work”/“Cowork” modes (ChatGPT Work, Claude Cowork), which give agents virtual-computer access to complete hours of work autonomously, and Codex/Claude Code for full local-machine access on complex multi-file projects.
  • Security note: agent permissions matter — Claude requires approval before sending emails or deleting files by default, contrasted favorably against ChatGPT’s more permissive defaults.
  • Demonstrates an agent autonomously preparing MBA seminar materials via email access and web research; also flags specialized tools — Gemini Notebook for research, Gemini Omni for video editing.