Meet the Models – How I Use Gemini 3 Pro, ChatGPT 5.1, and Claude 4.5

We’ve officially entered the holiday shopping season where companies compete for our attention and our money. It seems like the AI companies are tapping into our consumer habits with the flurry of announcements over the last few weeks. Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic have all dropped new models that are changing the game and bringing new intelligence into their tools. It’s overwhelming for anyone following the AI release cycle, but these announcements are increasingly important for us to track and understand. The tech is moving fast and we risk losing productivity gains, at home and at work, by falling behind. This week, I am focusing on three of the latest: Gemini 3 Pro, ChatGPT 5.1 and Claude Opus 4.5, and sharing how I use these models on a daily basis.

ChatGPT 5.1

From Day 1, I’ve relied heavily on the latest ChatGPT model to be my business partner and content creator. One major reason is the ‘Projects’ feature, which allows me to capture all of the context from my project in one area. This trend has continued since GPT 5.1 was released in November. I personally like the model’s ability to follow instructions and consistently deliver outputs that stay within the parameters I’ve outlined. GPT 5.1 excels at reasoning and putting together executable plans in an easily digestible manner, which is extremely useful when tackling problems in a domain outside of my personal expertise. Writing is a main strength of this model, especially when you build up memory context within a project. The model can pull from previously approved writing outputs and use it as a template to mimic the style and tone. This helps create a consistent ‘reading feel’ in each weekly newsletter. One suggestion I have is to experiment with ‘5.1 Thinking’ and track the ‘thought’ process of the model. It’s impressive to see how the model works through multiple steps to formulate comprehensive responses. It feels human-like and is the main reason I haven’t fully pivoted to another model.

Pro Tip: Use the ‘Projects’ feature to house and organize a project, whether it be personal or work related. 

Gemini 3.0

I’m definitely most experienced with the suite of ChatGPT models, but Gemini 3.0 is slowly poaching scope and tasks in my everyday workflows. Google has been crushing it with their models ever since Gemini 1.5 was released in February 2024. Historically, I’ve used Gemini 2.5 for two main tasks: helping write LinkedIn posts to promote the newsletter and creating images with the Nanobanana image model inside Gemini. This lack of usage was mostly due to my comfort and project integration with ChatGPT. But this is changing due to Gemini 3.0. If I had to describe 3.0 in one word, I’d go with ‘Powerhouse’. Google has figured out how to wrap their various models into one experience. For example, you can prompt Gemini 3.0 to create images, which is powered by their Nanobanana model. Or you can create realistic videos by tapping into Veo 3. Gemini 3.0 excels in multimodality, allowing the consumer to seamlessly interact with one interface to accomplish any task, regardless of the complexity. Personally, I started using 3.0 to help me build structure in the ‘Founder’s Corner’ section of the newsletter. I found myself wasting time with writer’s block and needed to prioritize planning over execution. The model blew me away with the level of detail given to help me organize my thoughts. I used this process for this blog post and probably saved myself at least an hour of writing time, all thanks to the power of 3.0. I’m still experimenting with 3.0 (it’s only been out for two weeks) and I have no doubt that more of my work will shift over once I get more reps under my belt. 

Pro Tip: Use Gemini 3.0 in Google AI Studio to vibe code a simple app that can make your life easier. You will get a chance to see the model use reasoning to bring your idea to life.

Opus 4.5

It’s hard to experiment with every model. I pay for ChatGPT and Gemini (the $20 per month plans) and have not taken the leap to pay for Anthropic’s suite of Claude models. One reason is how Claude is positioned. These models are trained and built to excel at coding and are marketed primarily toward developers. I don’t have advanced use cases (yet) that justify shifting over to Claude models, but Opus 4.5 might force me to rethink that strategy. Since I don’t have direct experience with this model, I asked Claude Sonnet 4.5 to highlight the strengths of Opus 4.5 and tell me why I should switch. Here are the main bullets/selling points:

• World's Best Coding Model
• Built for Agentic Workflows
• Computer Use & Browser Automation Leader
• Enterprise & Office Productivity Powerhouse
• Unprecedented Efficiency

My goal is to start incorporating Claude models into projects as I build out my 2026 roadmap. There are projects that fit nicely with the selling points and strengths of Opus 4.5. It’s good to step outside of your comfort zone, especially with the newer AI models.

Pro Tip: Find the right use case before experimenting with a new model, especially if you have little to no experience with previous versions. 

I view each model release as an opportunity to learn new skills and keep up with the pace of change. Each update provides a unique chance to figure out the best prompt or data structure that allows the model to create your envisioned output. This matters at work, because the tools you use every day may quietly swap the underlying model, and the inputs that used to perform well can suddenly fall flat if you do not understand how that model behaves. The more familiar you are with Gemini, ChatGPT, and Claude, the easier it is to adapt when your company or your favorite app changes what is running under the hood. Next week, I will build on this and share three practical ways to experiment with these models so you can accelerate your learning and get more out of AI in both your work and your everyday life.