Big War in AI: ChatGPT o1-preview, o3-mini, and Claude 3.7 Sonnet - Which is the Best?

As you know, Anthropic announced the new Claude model: Claude 3.7 Sonnet. Developed by Anthropic and released in February 2025, this AI model is the first hybrid reasoning model that combines both general-purpose language processing and logical reasoning capabilities under one roof. Claude 3.7 Sonnet made significant progress with an accuracy rate of 62.3% on SWE-bench Verified, surpassing Claude 3.5 Sonnet's 49.0% rate. Additionally, it achieved higher accuracy rates in tasks related to retail and airlines compared to previous versions. This model is particularly strong in coding and front-end web development. Anthropic also offers a command-line tool called Claude Code, which allows developers to delegate tasks like writing code, testing, and pushing to GitHub. Furthermore, Claude 3.7 Sonnet is designed to better adapt to real-world tasks. It excels in handling complex codebases, planning, and full-stack updates. The model is priced at $3 per million input tokens and $15 per million output tokens, which is more expensive than some competing models.

1. Natural Language Understanding and Generation

• ChatGPT o1-preview: Offers advanced natural language understanding, capable of interpreting metaphors and cultural references. It supports creative text generation and multilingual capabilities.

• ChatGPT o3-mini: A variant of the o3 model, optimized for coding, mathematics, and science. It provides low latency and high-speed limits, making it ideal for coding and STEM tasks.

• Claude 3.7 Sonnet: Strong in mathematics and coding, with the ability to tackle complex problems through "extended thinking".

2. Coding and Technical Capabilities

• ChatGPT o1-preview: Strong in coding and technical tasks, though not as specialized as o3-mini.

• ChatGPT o3-mini: Offers advanced coding capabilities, particularly in code writing and testing. It achieved an Elo rating of 2,727 on Codeforces.

• Claude 3.7 Sonnet: Superior coding abilities, with high scores on SWE-bench Verified and expertise in code design.

3. Security and Ethics

• ChatGPT o1-preview: Provides more freedom but is less stringent on security and ethics compared to Claude.

• ChatGPT o3-mini: Utilizes "deliberative alignment" to ensure safe and reliable outputs.

• Claude 3.7 Sonnet: Prioritizes security and ethics, designed to prevent harmful content generation, though its ethical boundaries are slightly more relaxed in version 3.7.

4. Speed and Response Time

• ChatGPT o1-preview: Offers fast response times, though not as quick as o3-mini.

• ChatGPT o3-mini: Provides low latency and high-speed limits, enhancing user interaction.

• Claude 3.7 Sonnet: Fast, but lacks web search capabilities, which can be a disadvantage in some cases.

5. Personalization and User Experience

• ChatGPT o1-preview: Analyzes user behavior to provide personalized experiences.

• ChatGPT o3-mini: Offers user-centric experiences, though not as advanced in personalization as o1.

• Claude 3.7 Sonnet: Also user-centric, but not as personalized as o1.

6. Knowledge Base

• ChatGPT o1-preview: Has a broad knowledge base, though not as current as Claude.

• ChatGPT o3-mini: Similar knowledge base to o1, possibly more updated in coding and STEM areas.

• Claude 3.7 Sonnet: Covers information up to October 2024, providing a more current knowledge source in some cases.

Comparison Table

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Who Wins?

Each model has its strengths and weaknesses, so determining the "winner" depends on the user's needs. Here's a brief analysis:

ChatGPT o1-preview

• Pros: Offers a broad knowledge base, multilingual support, and creative text generation capabilities. It provides fast response times.

• Cons: Not as specialized in coding and technical tasks as o3-mini.

ChatGPT o3-mini

• Pros: Optimized for coding and STEM fields. Provides low latency and high-speed limits, making it ideal for coding tasks.

• Cons: Less focused on general knowledge and creative writing compared to o1-preview.

Claude 3.7 Sonnet

• Pros: Strong in mathematics and coding, with superior visual reasoning and code analysis capabilities. Prioritizes security and ethics.

• Cons: Lacks web search capabilities.

The Winner Depends On:

• Coding and Technical Tasks: o3-mini and Claude 3.7 Sonnet excel in this area.

• General Knowledge and Creative Writing: o1-preview is more suitable.

• Visual Reasoning and Security: Claude 3.7 Sonnet is preferable.

Thus, the "winner" is determined by the user's specific requirements.

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References

1. OpenAI Documentation: Details on o3-mini capabilities and performance.

2. ChatGPT o1-preview Documentation: Overview of its natural language understanding and generation capabilities.

3. OpenAI Blog: Insights into the "deliberative alignment" approach used by o3-mini.

4. SWE-bench Verified Results: Performance metrics for Claude 3.7 Sonnet on coding benchmarks.

5. Codeforces: Elo rating achievements by o3-mini.

6. Claude Documentation: Details on Claude 3.7 Sonnet's features and capabilities.

7. Research Papers: Studies on the "extended thinking" capabilities of Claude 3.7 Sonnet.

8. Sourcegraph Cody: It helped me try these 3 AIs.