AI Notes
To date, my only sizable experience with AI has been OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Codex. However, I was curious about the big alternatives, Gemini and Claude. I’ve heard on podcasts that Gemini is best for front-end work and Codex for back-end. So I gave them a shot. I’ve spent minimal time with each on the web interface and the CLI.
Here’s what I’ve tested so far:
- Codex: GPT-5.4 w/ extra high reasoning
- ChatGPT: GPT-5.4 w/ Thinking
- Gemini: Gemini 3 w/ Thinking
- Gemini CLI: Gemini 3 - v0.33.1
- Claude Code: Sonnet 4.6 - v2.1.76 - medium effort
That look Codex gives me when I say the website content is loading too slowly…
Before vs. After
Music search (search_p1)
- Before: ~285.5ms p50 / 311.0ms p95
- After: ~250.4ms p50 / 280.9ms p95
- Change: -35.1ms p50, -30.1ms p95
Music search (search_p1, earlier baseline)
- Before: ~295.6ms p50 / 569.6ms p95
- After: ~250.4ms p50 / 280.9ms p95
- Change: -45.2ms p50, -288.7ms p95
Music most_played
- Before: ~26.6ms p50 / 41.5ms p95
- After: ~27.4ms p50 / 31.3ms p95
- Change: p95 improved by 10.2ms
Run. Close your laptop. Say no. Think twice. If you wanted it, you probably would have asked for it.
I tried Gemini for the first time today and it did not go well. I feel as though Codex/ChatGPT and I have such a rapport that it understands me when I’m less clear than is needed and prompts me to follow up to ensure we are on the same page. Gemini just rolls with the punches and says, “I GOT THIS” before coming back with dubious results.
I recently began listening to the A16Z podcast, and one of the voices there said that Codex is best for backend and Gemini for frontend. Codex has been struggling to get my CSS 100% on point, so I thought I’d give Gemini a whirl. I’m not using it in the Google site directly, but rather the CLI from Homebrew. Maybe that’s the problem. I’ll keep toying around.
Relevant:
Also, some cool new design and layout updates are live at https://fcc.cc/
Oh no! Codex is capped. All week I was shocked that this tool is available for the $20 I am already paying for ChatGPT and I waited for the other shoe to drop. Yet all things considered, the value is still beyond real. In under one week I was able to implement with such an ease that my focus has been redirected to the creative aspect of a project. Codex has already changed the way I engage with a computer. We are now in the era that we watched in Star Trek in this capacity.
This post is currently being published from Codex CLI. It’s shockingly intuitive. It’s tempting to use this for every single computer task.
The new Codex application from OpenAI is pretty neat. I often got frustrated with ChatGPT because it would randomly shift between completing a requested task and discussing said task (instead of completion). I now realize it was simply because ChatGPT was trying to chat with me instead of being the workhorse I asked it to be.