OpenAI Launches Deep Research In ChatGPT, A New AI Agent That ...
OpenAI has launched deep research in ChatGPT, a new agentic capability similar to Google's Deep Research AI assistant introduced last year in December. Just like Google's agent, deep research in ChatGPT is capable of conducting multi-step research on the internet for complex tasks, saving hours of labour used in research work.
"Deep research is OpenAI's next agent that can do work for you independently—you give it a prompt, and ChatGPT will find, analyse, and synthesise hundreds of online sources to create a comprehensive report at the level of a research analyst," OpenAI said in a blog post.
Capabilities of Deep Research ChatGPT
The deep research ChatGPT agent is powered by a version of the upcoming OpenAI o3 model, optimised for web browsing and data analysis. According to the AI company, it can leverage reasoning to search, interpret, and analyse massive amounts of text, images, and PDFs on the internet. Notably, it can pivot in a certain direction as needed in reaction to information it encounters.
"The ability to synthesize knowledge is a prerequisite for creating new knowledge. For this reason, deep research marks a significant step toward our broader goal of developing AGI, which we have long envisioned as capable of producing novel scientific research," OpenAI added.
Applications of Deep Research
The company is presenting deep research for people who do intensive knowledge work in areas like finance, science, policy, and engineering or just anyone who requires hyper-personalised recommendations on purchases that typically require careful research. OpenAI says that deep research documents output with citations and a summary of its thinking, making it easy to reference and verify the information.
Deep research was trained on real-world tasks requiring browser and Python tool use, using the same reinforcement learning methods behind the company's first reasoning model-- OpenAI o1. However, unlike o1 which is limited to coding, math, and other technical domains, deep research can tackle real-world challenges that demand extensive context and information gathering from diverse online sources.
How to Use Deep Research
To use deep research in ChatGPT, go to the model selection menu, select ‘deep research’, and enter your query. You can tell ChatGPT the extent of research you want, whether it’s a competitive analysis or a personalised report on a topic. You can also feed files or spreadsheets to add context to the question. A sidebar will present a summary of the steps taken and sources used by the deep research.
"Deep research may take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes to complete its work, taking the time needed to dive deep into the web," OpenAI said, adding that users will receive a notification once their research work is complete. The company has confirmed to add embedded images, data visualisations, and other analytic outputs in the next few weeks.
For more information, you can also read about Google's New AI Agent Can Plan And Execute Extensive Research On Any Complex Topic: How To Use
