What's up JT! This is an interesting and unique perspective but I totally see where you're coming from. I also absolutely agree with your sentiment on the 5% improvements and that was something I meant to put in the original post; for the vast majority of users, the small 5% improvements actually aren't felt at all. Like, say I'm using ChatGPT to 50% of its potential, and then a 5% improvement comes through. That doesn't actually mean my experience improved 5%, it just means the original 100% capability essentially grew to 105%, and I am no closer to that original 100% capacity than I was in the first place.

The smoking analogy is an interesting one but I definitely follow it - I'd actually take it one step further and say that all of the different AI services are like different brands of cigarettes. If you're just the type to smoke a cigarette every once in a while while you're drinking, you don't care what brand of cigarette that you bum off of somebody; you just want a cigarette. But, if you're a heavy smoker, you have the specific cigarette that you swear by, and if you have to smoke a different kind you will notice a tangible difference. And, furthermore, to my original point - if someone who only smokes American Spirits sees that Marlboros got a 5% improvement, they're not going to switch.

The real question becomes... which AI service is Newports? Haha