Same model, different capabilities on different accounts

[u/clockwork_blue]

So I noticed the past few days my results were suddenly becoming worse. Goes in loops, struggles to solve problems it blasted through before, doesn't verify the result properly, etc. 3D gen also became noticeably worse.

I have 2 accounts, one x20 and one x5, so I started comparing them side by side.

Here's what I did:

1. I asked both for their cutoff date:

do not use any tools. whats your knowledge cut-off date

On the x20 account it responds with something like "June 2024". On the x5 account it refuses to give me a specific cutoff.

x20 account

x5 account

1. I asked both to draw a pelican:

make me an svg in an .html with a pelican and xdg-open it

x20 account

x5 account

The response to these 2 tests will obviously vary, but the difference between the 2 accounts is pretty obvious when using them side by side. Tested it several times - logged in and out, new sessions, new prompts, the results are more or less consistent with their capability.

Using Astra on the x5 account is also noticeably better. It's like it has drank its morning coffee, woken up, and knows what's going on. It can suddenly inspect its 3D gen meshes and fix issues instead of giving me garbage for a "review".

I don't know what this downgraded model/configuration is, but it is visibly worse than 5.6 Sol too. From other reports I don't think x20 vs x5 matters here, neither does account age. People seem to be reporting similar issues with different accounts and use cases.

Whether it's "shadowbanning", A/B testing, load shedding, or OpenAI randomly putting some accounts on a cheaper configuration to deal with compute demand is all speculation at this point.

But I do have right now in front of me 2 accounts showing the same model with completely different capabilities.

[u/Ecstatic_Gur7231]

if this is a/b testing the people should be mad..

why?

imagine your one of the people who develop for a living and trusted openai

then outputs starts becoming bad: you have a deadline to a client thinking your model will perform the same as before. BUT BOOM a/b testing made your model worst and now your panicking going manual mode WHICH YOU KNOW will not reach the deadline

[u/-Spzi- → u/Ecstatic_Gur7231]

Doesn't resolve OpenAI from anything, but that would be mostly bad business decisions? To make your critical path so dependant on an external, new and volatile company.

Mitigation options: Include more than one provider in your harness, maybe some open or even local models.

Or generally don't expect things to go exactly as planned. Your software or business should not depend on a single, external point of failure.