Published Date:
August 12, 2025

Can GPT‑5 cure the 4o hangover?

Plus: GPT-5 in Notion and Lovable, vibe coding a crossword game.
By
Evelyn Le
Strategic Product Lead, Stay Ahead, FlexOS

Welcome to Lead with AI's practical Tuesday edition!

In this edition, I'm bringing you the latest must-know AI tools and stories:

  1. ChatGPT-5 is here.
  2. Your AI Team: GPT-5 in Notion and Lovable, Google's Guided Learning, and ElevenLabs’ AI music generator.
  3. In 5 Steps: Vibe-code a Business Crossword with GPT-5.
  4. New tools: Envato, Clueso, and Trickle.
  5. Must-read News: ChatGPT’s bringing 4o back, GitHub’s CEO on vibe coding.

Let’s get started!

Ready to have ChatGPT-5 as your only option?

OpenAI launched ​GPT‑5​ this week. If you felt the discourse swing between “AGI is here” and “meh, incremental,” you’re not alone. Here’s the practical version execs need, including what’s new, how it changes workflows, and why reactions are so polarized.

Watch full video here

What’s actually new (that matters):

  • It routes work for you. ChatGPT now has a real‑time “router” that picks the right model pathway per task (fast vs. think‑hard), so you don’t babysit model choices or settings.
  • Stronger at “agentic” work. GPT‑5 is better at chaining steps and tools to get things done (think: generate UI + wire up logic + iterate without micromanaging). OpenAI and early testers highlight improved long chains of tool calls and hands‑on app creation with minimal prompting.
  • Usability controls for leaders. New API parameters let teams set verbosity (short vs. comprehensive) and reasoning effort (including a “minimal” mode to speed answers).
  • Better coding & UI generation. OpenAI frames GPT‑5 as its most capable coding model yet. Media coverage echoes “complex coding with minimal prompting,” meaning faster prototypes and internal tools without pulling full squads off the roadmap.
  • ChatGPT quality‑of‑life upgrades. Personality/response style and UI customization are rolling out, reducing the back‑and‑forth to get answers in your house style.

Yesterday, our Lead with AI PRO community hosted ​a members-only executive briefing​ on GPT-5’s new features, customization options, prompt-writing techniques, and best use cases for the new model, along with how to switch back to our old dear friend GPT-4o to accommodate specific needs.

Watch the replay below:

(Not a member yet? Join over 400 executives and become a PRO member to stay ahead of the latest AI updates and make them work for you.

A few highlights from the walkthrough:

GPT-5 is now rolling out to all ChatGPT users. Free users can access GPT-5 with limited access.

Once caps are hit, the system switches to the expedited Mini version. Plus subscribers enjoy substantially higher usage limits, while Pro users receive effectively unlimited access, including the elite GPT-5 Pro model for advanced reasoning.

GPT-5 arrived billed as OpenAI’s most capable model with a real-time router that automatically picks the “best” sub-model for your request. But this invisible hand is exactly where the reaction split. As Wharton professor Ethan Mollick points out, GPT-5 now “​just does stuff​,” meaning it decides on the right model pathway behind the scenes.

This might feel like magic for casual users. They get results without thinking about knobs and settings. For power users, it might feel disempowering: the lack of control over which model is used makes it impossible to optimize for cost, speed, or nuance, and introduces unpredictability in quality mid-conversation.

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Guaranteed 3-Week Roadmap to Your 5 Personal AI Assistants

A hands-on bootcamp for senior leaders. Work 1:1 with our AI experts to design, build, and deploy assistants tailored to your role, then graduate with an AI Leader Certification.

Why Lead with AI Boot Camp Beats a Typical “Course”

  • Build-first: By the end of Week 1, lock 5 high-value use cases and start building.
  • Personalized: One-on-one guidance to fit your goals, workflows, and constraints.
  • Production-ready: Leave with five working assistants, and the skills to keep iterating.

The program is updated for August 2025, now covering GPT-5, ChatGPT Agents, and your enterprise AI stack (ChatGPT, Copilot, or Gemini).

Reserve your seat for the ​August 22​ or ​October 3​ cohort today.

➡️Join August 22 Cohort


➡️Join October 3 Cohort

Hands-on with ChatGPT-5: Build a “Business Brain Crossword” in Canvas

In this week's tutorial, we put Canvas Coding to the test – vibe coding directly in ChatGPT.

If you want to see how far GPT-5’s coding abilities have come and give your team a light-hearted challenge, building a business-themed crossword is a perfect test.

In a single conversation, GPT-5 can create a polished, responsive game that doubles as an executive-level brain teaser. It’s a hands-on way to evaluate the model’s technical depth while producing something your colleagues will actually enjoy.

Click the link below to get started:

In 5 Steps: Build a “Business Brain Crossword” with GPT-5

Your AI Team: GPT-5 in Notion and Lovable, Google's Guided Learning, ElevenLabs’ AI music generator, and more

Every week, I report on the top updates to your favorite AI tools. This week:

Notion adds GPT-5 to its AI toolkit for complex workflow

Notion has begun a gradual rollout of OpenAI’s GPT-5, which it says is faster, more thorough, and handles complex tasks 15% better than previous models it tested, making it well-suited for projects with multiple moving parts.

  • Better performance for intricate work: GPT-5’s improvements target scenarios where multiple dependencies and layers of reasoning are involved, from cross-team planning to structured document drafting.
  • Seamless integration into existing AI features: Users can access GPT-5 capabilities directly in Notion’s workspace without changing their current workflows.

The feature is starting to appear for users now, with wider availability coming over the next weeks.

Quick Hits from your favorite AI tools:

  • Lovable integrates GPT-5 into its no-code app builder: Available in preview until August 12, the update lets users build with GPT-5’s capabilities now, with free student access coming later this year.
  • Google launches Guided Learning in Gemini: A step-by-step AI learning companion that uses questions, visuals, videos, and quizzes to deepen understanding, built with educators and shareable directly via Google Classroom.
  • ElevenLabs launches an AI music generator cleared for commercial use: Create studio-quality tracks, including vocals, in multiple genres and languages via simple prompts. Backed by licensing deals with Merlin and Kobalt, it’s ready for filmmaking, ads, podcasts, social media, and gaming.
  • Google officially lifts Jules out of beta as its AI coding agent: Now running on Gemini 2.5 Pro, Jules lets developers clone, fix, and update code asynchronously via GitHub and GCP.
  • Microsoft brings OpenAI’s smallest open GPT model to Windows: The lightweight gpt-oss-20b model, optimized for coding and agent-like tasks, is available through Windows AI Foundry for Windows 11 users with at least 16 GB VRAM, with macOS support coming soon.

Read more news at the end.

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New AI Tools to Try: Envato, Clueso, and Trickle

Looking for something fresh to add to your creative or business toolkit? These three AI tools caught my attention this week:

Envato: AI-Enhanced Creative Library

This platform pairs its massive library of 23 million+ digital assets with AI-powered search and creative tools (like ImageGen, MusicGen, VideoGen, VoiceGen), helping users find and generate design, audio, and video assets using natural-language prompts.

👉Generate high-quality assets fast with built‑in AI generation.

Clueso: AI-Powered Product Videos & Documentation

This tool turns raw screen recordings into polished product walkthroughs, creating both studio-quality videos (with AI voiceovers, zooms, highlights, and branding) and structured how‑to articles with screenshots.

👉 Streamlining content creation by up to 20×.

Trickle: AI App & Website Builder with Magic Canvas

Build production‑ready websites, apps, and forms by working with an AI on a visual “Magic Canvas,” attach brand assets and notes, add custom knowledge, enable the built‑in database, and publish instantly (custom domains on paid plans).

👉 Prototype and ship without code.

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ChatGPT’s bringing 4o back, GitHub’s CEO on vibe coding, and the hidden penalty of using AI at work

Every day, Daan, Wendy, and I read all the AI news so that you don't have to.

Here are the must-read stories of the week:

Sam Altman addresses ‘bumpy’ GPT-5 rollout, bringing 4o back, and the ‘chart crime’

Sam Altman explained that a faulty real‑time model‑switching router made GPT‑5 seem less capable than its predecessor upon launch, promised improvements and transparency on model selection, and acknowledged the misleading “chart crime” amid user calls to reinstate GPT‑4o.

GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke on Copilot, vibe coding, and AI’s next chapter

GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke reaffirmed that AI-driven coding like Copilot is here to stay and is rethinking how developers will work as competition and new tools like vibe coding reshape the future of programming.

Research: The Hidden Penalty of Using AI at Work

Research from HBR reveals that even after a year, just 41% of engineers tried a new AI coding assistant, only 31% of female engineers and 39% of those over 40, forging a significant adoption gap.

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Invitation: Masterclass - Exploring Copyright Law in the Age of AI

This Thursday, Lead with AI PRO Member Jennifer McCallum will host an exclusive Masterclass on AI and Legal.

In this session, Jennifer will cover:

  • The Foundations: Copyright, fair use, and DMCA §1202 explained.
  • Case Landscape 2025: What the biggest lawsuits (NYT v. OpenAI, Bartz v. Anthropic, Ross v. Thomson Reuters) mean for your organization.
  • Risks for Businesses: How AI use could trigger IP liability, reshape vendor contracts, and accelerate the shift to licensing-first models.
  • Forward Guidance: Practical playbooks to mitigate risk, future-proof your AI strategy, and stay ahead of evolving laws and regulations.

You’ll walk away with a clear understanding of how today’s legal shifts impact AI adoption, along with actionable strategies to protect your organization, minimize liability, and confidently navigate the evolving copyright landscape.

Members, the invite is on your calendar.

Not a member yet? Upgrade to PRO, now free for two weeks, and get an invite to this exclusive Masterclass - a must for anyone using AI at work.

Go PRO. 2-Week Free Trial

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If you have any other questions or feedback, just reply here or inbox me.

See you next week,

Daan van Rossum - Lead with AI

Daan van Rossum​

Host, Lead with AI

Evelyn Le

Strategic Product Lead, Stay Ahead, FlexOS

Welcome to Lead with AI's practical Tuesday edition!

In this edition, I'm bringing you the latest must-know AI tools and stories:

  1. ChatGPT-5 is here.
  2. Your AI Team: GPT-5 in Notion and Lovable, Google's Guided Learning, and ElevenLabs’ AI music generator.
  3. In 5 Steps: Vibe-code a Business Crossword with GPT-5.
  4. New tools: Envato, Clueso, and Trickle.
  5. Must-read News: ChatGPT’s bringing 4o back, GitHub’s CEO on vibe coding.

Let’s get started!