AI Revolution's Ultimate Destination: The Impact of GPT-5's "Thinking and Acting AI"

Imagine a future where the AI sitting next to you doesn't just answer questions, but "thinks" and "acts" with its own will, just like you. This world, once only seen in science fiction, has now become a reality!

The latest model, "GPT-5," released by OpenAI on August 7, 2025, is a presence that fundamentally redefines the relationship between humanity and AI. It is truly what we should call a "strategic evolution of AI."

GPT-5 is here

This is not just a performance improvement. It marks the dawn of a new era, bringing about a seismic, qualitative change to every aspect of our work, learning, and daily lives.

GPT-5: The Dawn of a "Thinking AI"

In the past, AI was an entity that learned patterns from the vast data we humans provided, outputting knowledge like a know-it-all博士. While GPT-4o took a major step toward "practical multimodal AI," GPT-5 has evolved into a "thinking AI" that goes far beyond that.

A Leap from GPT-4o: A Qualitative Evolution, Not Just Smarter

The previous model, GPT-4o, was a "multimodal model" that could process text, audio, and images in an integrated way, bringing the convenience of AI into our daily lives. Many of you may remember how natural conversations became possible with voice, making interactions with AI smoother. However, GPT-5 has built a new layer of "thinking" and "acting" on top of that foundation.

From our perspective as system integrators, this is a true game-changer. If conventional AI was a "data processing master," GPT-5 can be said to have transformed into a "problem-solving professional." This qualitative change is not just about faster computation or more fluent writing. It means that AI has begun to emulate a part of our human thought process.

The Mechanism of "Thinking Power": Ph.D.-Level Thought Delivered by Dynamic Inference

At the core of GPT-5 is a feature called "dynamic inference." This is a remarkable mechanism where the AI automatically analyzes the content and difficulty of the prompt (instruction) given by the user and automatically selects the optimal inference model for that content. It's as if there are multiple experts inside the AI, and the most suitable one automatically responds to the question. It selects a "fast response model" for quick answers and a "deep thinking model" for complex queries that require profound thought. Users no longer need to manually choose which model to use and can always leverage "Ph.D.-level thinking power."

This means that while traditional AI was an entity that "just followed the given path," GPT-5 has become an entity that "judges the situation and chooses the best approach on its own." You can now solve complex problems with AI as if you had a Ph.D.-level expert sitting right next to you.

AI That Remembers: Natural Conversations Woven by Persistent Memory

Have you ever felt stressed during conversations with AI because it forgets previous interactions, forcing you to repeat the same explanations every time? GPT-5 addresses this inconvenience with a "persistent memory" function. This feature allows it to remember past conversations, user preferences, and context across sessions.

This makes natural, human-like conversations possible, such as "Can you tell me about that thing we talked about before?" or "I want to know more about the book you recommended earlier." The feeling that the AI "remembers" you goes beyond mere convenience and holds the potential to build a new relationship of trust between us and AI.

This persistent memory is a decisive step for AI to become a "personal assistant" optimized for each of us. Doesn't it excite you just to imagine how our lives, work, and learning will change?

An SIer's Perspective: When the Dream of System Integration Becomes a Reality

The combination of "dynamic inference" and "persistent memory" holds enormous potential for us system integrators (SIers) to make our long-held dream of "system integration" a reality. By deeply understanding user intent and autonomously linking multiple systems and tools, we can foresee a future where much of the cumbersome human-performed operations and data linkages are automated. For example, a salesperson could tell the AI about a customer conversation, and the AI could automatically update the Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system, assign tasks to relevant departments, and even create the framework for the next proposal document. This is a truly revolutionary step that not only increases work efficiency but also drives the transformation of entire business processes.

Overwhelming Performance and Multifunctionality: What GPT-5 Can Do

GPT-5 has not only gained the power to "think," "remember," and "act," but its performance also significantly surpasses previous models. It has recorded all-time high scores on major benchmark tests, with its intelligence being rated as "Ph.D. level."

Dramatic Improvement in Coding Ability: AI as a Software Engineer's Partner

In the field of software development, GPT-5 has made a remarkable leap. It not only generates code but also excels in more complex front-end code generation and debugging large repositories. For example, on SWE-bench (a software development benchmark), GPT-5 (in Thinking mode) achieved an astonishing 74.9%, compared to GPT-4o's 52.8%.

This means that AI functions not just as a "coding tool," but as a "trusted partner for software engineers." It can even understand design aesthetics and intuitively create beautiful and responsive websites, applications, and games from a single prompt. This will dramatically accelerate the development cycle, and the speed at which we can turn our ideas into reality will far exceed previous norms.

Creativity and Writing Assistance: The Moment AI Becomes a "Trusted Friend"

In writing and creative expression, GPT-5 exhibits unparalleled capabilities. It can transform rough ideas into "heartfelt, engaging prose" with literary depth and rhythm. It powerfully supports a wide range of writing tasks, including drafting reports and emails, organizing meeting notes, extracting key points, and even composing poetry.

Of particular note is its "style customization" feature. You can select the AI's "personality" to match your preferences and use case, such as "listener," "cynical," "robot," or "otaku." This has evolved conversations with AI into a more natural and personal experience, much like talking to a friend with a Ph.D. The feeling of "talking to an AI" is now almost non-existent. It is the moment when AI becomes your "trusted friend."

Healthcare and Learning Support: AI's New Role in Specialized Fields

GPT-5 also demonstrates its true value in the medical and healthcare fields. It supports users in getting accurate information about their health and making autonomous decisions. It recorded a higher score than any previous model on HealthBench, which uses physician-defined evaluation criteria based on real-world scenarios. GPT-5 acts like a proactive thinking partner, preemptively pointing out potential concerns and asking questions to elicit more helpful answers.

Furthermore, a "Study Mode" has been introduced for students and learners. By automating step-by-step problem-solving, spaced repetition, and key point summarization, AI can become a "personal tutor," dramatically increasing learning efficiency. These features show that AI is becoming a powerful tool that expands human capabilities in fields that require specialized knowledge.

Astonishing Benchmark Results: Drastically Reduced Hallucinations and a Leap in Reliability

The intelligence of GPT-5 is also clearly reflected in numerical data. It achieved astounding scores of 94.6% in the AIME 2025 math competition, 88.0% in multilingual code editing, and 84.2% in multimodal understanding (MMMU).

Even more noteworthy is the dramatic decrease in the rate of "hallucinations," where AI generates factually incorrect information. The rate of hallucinations during web access decreased significantly from 12.9% for GPT-4o to 4.5% for GPT-5 (Thinking mode). This is approximately an 80% reduction compared to OpenAI o3. The evolution of GPT-5 into a more reliable AI will significantly support its use in fields where accuracy is critically important, such as healthcare, law, and education. The dramatic reduction of AI "lies" is the most welcome news for us users.

Toward an Era of "Co-action" with AI: Evolving External Integration and Usage Plans

GPT-5 is not just smart on its own; through deep integration with external tools, it has evolved from an AI that "talks" to an AI that "acts autonomously." This holds the potential to fundamentally change the way we work.

A World Where AI Acts Autonomously: Seamless Integration with External Apps

Previous AIs often provided functions that were contained within a specific application. However, GPT-5 can directly integrate with major business tools such as Gmail, Google Calendar, Drive, Outlook, and OneDrive. This enables the AI to autonomously handle daily tasks like searching for emails, drafting documents, adding and modifying appointments, and aggregating spreadsheets, all without our explicit instructions.

Imagine this: The AI automatically creates meeting minutes, adds tasks to a task management tool (like Asana or Trello) based on the content, and sends notifications to relevant members via Slack—such a dream-like integration is made a reality by GPT-5. The era has arrived where AI goes beyond the role of a "secretary" or "assistant" and begins to function as a "hub for business efficiency." This will allow us to focus our valuable time on more creative and strategic work. Our productivity will increase exponentially through "co-action" with AI.

An "Expert" for Everyone: Expanding Access from Free to Pro

OpenAI has begun offering GPT-5 to all ChatGPT users, including those on the free plan. This means that the benefits of high-performance AI are no longer limited to a select few but are available to everyone. While free users have usage limits, if they exceed the limit, they are automatically switched to a more compact and faster model called "GPT-5 mini," allowing them to continue using it without interruption.

Paid plans (Plus, Pro, Team, Enterprise, Edu) provide even more usage and access to "GPT-5 Pro," which is designed for the most difficult tasks. "GPT-5 Pro" in particular performs highly on graduate-level, highly specialized knowledge problems, making it a model for researchers and professionals. This will enable many people who previously lacked access to high-performance AI to leverage its power in their work, learning, and daily lives.

The Cost-Performance Revolution: The Economic Benefits of GPT-5

The evolution of AI is often associated with increased costs. However, the API price for GPT-5 has been set lower than the conventional GPT-4o. For example, the standard API version is available at an affordable price of $1.25 per million input tokens and $10 per million output tokens. Furthermore, cheaper "mini" and "nano" versions are available, allowing for flexible choices based on a company's needs and budget.

This pricing strategy suggests that OpenAI has a strong will to "popularize AI in both quality and quantity." By making high-performance AI more affordable and available in more places, companies and individuals who were hesitant to adopt AI will be more likely to enjoy its benefits. This will be a crucial economic driver for AI technology to deeply permeate society.

An SIer's Perspective: The Norms of Implementation and Operation Are Being Overturned

For us SIers, this external integration feature and flexible pricing system fundamentally overturn the norms of AI solution implementation and operation. Previously, complex development and customization were essential to link systems, but GPT-5's direct integration feature dramatically reduces that effort and cost. The decrease in API prices makes AI utilization at the small and medium-sized enterprise or departmental level a reality, accelerating a "company-wide AI shift."

However, the "autonomous actions of AI" also bring new challenges in governance and security. How autonomous will the AI be, what judgments will it make, and who will be responsible for the results? Establishing clear guidelines and operational frameworks for these questions will become a new mission for us SIers. A transformation in organizational culture is also required, where we see AI not just as a "tool" but as a member of the "workforce."

Concerns and Future Considerations: How Far Will AI Evolve?

While the arrival of GPT-5 brings us immeasurable possibilities, it also raises several concerns about the further evolution of AI and what we should be prepared for.

Hallucinations and Limitations: The Remaining Challenges for a Smart AI

GPT-5 has drastically reduced the rate of hallucinations, but it has not been completely eliminated. The possibility of AI generating incorrect information still remains, especially in complex queries or ambiguous situations. Furthermore, some experts suggest that GPT-5 has not "created a new paradigm for AI." For example, some point out that the size of the context window (the amount of information it can process at once) has not been significantly improved compared to some competing models.

This means that no matter how smart AI becomes, the importance of a final "human check" and "ethical judgment" remains unchanged. It is still required of us users to not take AI output at face value, to always maintain a critical perspective, and to perform fact checks as necessary.

For Responsible AI Use: The "Human Power" Required of Us

In an era where high-performance AI is available to everyone, the ability to "master AI" and "make ethical judgments" becomes even more important. AI is a powerful tool, and depending on how it is used, it can have both good and bad impacts on society.

For example, information generated by AI can be very convincing, even if it is incorrect. The risk of AI being misused for things like the spread of fake news or the generation of harmful content through malicious prompts is not zero.

While we enjoy the technological evolution of AI, we must also improve our AI literacy, understand its limitations, and, above all, engage with AI with human ethics and a sense of responsibility. AI is not here to replace us, but to be a "partner that augments us."

A New Relationship with AI: A Partnership of Trust and Co-action

The evolution of GPT-5 signals a full-scale transition from an "era of using AI" to an "era of working with AI." This means that AI will assume the role of a team member or partner rather than just a "tool."

In this new relationship, "trust" and "co-action" with AI will be key. By maximizing AI's strengths and compensating for its weaknesses with human input, we will be able to take on more complex and creative challenges than ever before. Through co-action with AI, our own abilities will also expand into uncharted territory.

Conclusion: Signs of AI Moving from a "Tool" to Something "Lifelike"

GPT-5 transcends the category of just being the latest model; it has evolved into a presence that seems "alive" and exists to deeply understand human thought and action and support them. It suggests that the dream of "AI thinking like a human," once only depicted in science fiction, has now become a clear presence on the technological horizon.

However, this "lifelike" evolution of AI poses questions to us. How will we handle this overwhelming intelligence, and where will we lead it? And when AI gains intelligence and the power to act, what should we humans continue to hone as "our unique strengths"?

GPT-5 has given us a powerful key to becoming "smarter and more productive." With this key in hand, we can, together with AI, open doors to a future far beyond our imagination. So, why not take the first step into an unseen world with AI? Your imagination is the final piece that will unlock the true potential of AI.

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photo by:Dima Solomin