Reports surfaced this week on social media suggesting that OpenAI is reportedly testing internally a “router” function that automatically selects the best model from their growing stable of options based on what you’re asking for. No more staring at a dropdown menu wondering whether your medical question needs the reasoning power of o3 or if GPT-4o will suffice.
We’ve been implementing model routers for enterprise clients for more than a year. Microsoft’s Azure AI Foundry already offers this functionality. Specialized companies like Not Diamond, Martian, and Unify have built entire businesses around intelligent model routing. The concept works: analyze the incoming prompt, determine what type of task it represents, and route it to the most appropriate model.
OpenAI knows what we know: their interface has become an unusable mess.
ChatGPT now offers seven different models, each optimized for different tasks. The dropdown menu reads like a computer science syllabus: GPT-4o, o3, o4-mini, o4 mini high, GPT-4.5 (Research Preview), GPT-4.1, GPT-4.1-mini. Most users face decision paralysis disguised as choice.
OpenAI’s rapid model rollouts have outpaced UX simplicity. They prioritized showcasing their technical capabilities over usability. Every new model release made the interface more complex while making the user’s job harder.
Enterprise clients figured this out long ago. We don’t ask business users to choose between models; we route automatically based on the task. Simple customer service queries get lightweight models. Complex analysis gets the full-power treatment. Users get better results without thinking about it.
It’s great that OpenAI is taking a page from the enterprise playbook. The rumor mill says that there will still be “expert mode,” so you can still pick a specific model if you want to.
For me, this feature can’t come soon enough. It's making me wonder if they’re just going to revise the interface and call it GPT-5?
As always your thoughts and comments are both welcome and encouraged. Just reply to this email. –s
Shelly Palmer is the Professor of Advanced Media in Residence at Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and CEO of The Palmer Group, a consulting practice that helps Fortune 500 companies with technology, media and marketing. Named LinkedIn’s “Top Voice in Technology,” he covers tech and business for Good Day New York, is a regular commentator on CNN and writes a popular daily business blog. He's a bestselling author, and the creator of the popular, free online course, Generative AI for Execs. Follow @shellypalmer or visit shellypalmer.com.
