Ethan Mollick's evolving guide to AI tools now emphasizes agentic systems over simple chatbots, highlighting ChatGPT Work, Claude Cowork, and Codex modes. The guide notes naming confusion and the shift toward AI capable of hours of autonomous work.
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Ethan Mollick's latest AI tool guide reveals a major shift from conversational AI to agentic systems over the past year, but product naming confusion remains.
According to Ethan Mollick's latest AI tool guide, the core model of AI applications has shifted from purely conversational interaction to agentic systems over the past year. Mollick's guide initially focused on chat models like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini, supplemented by alternative modes like Deep Research, but now emphasizes agentic systems that 'can complete the equivalent of several hours of human work in one go.'
This shift reflects the industry's higher expectations for AI capabilities—no longer satisfied with simple Q&A, but pursuing autonomous execution of complex tasks. The update of Mollick's guide itself confirms this trend: he no longer lists Gemini as a recommendation because Google 'still doesn't have a clear product' in this category.
Gemini's disappearance from Mollick's recommendations is directly due to Google's lack of a corresponding product in the Codex/ChatGPT Work/Cowork agent category. Mollick points out that this category is the core competitive area for current AI tools, and Google has yet to launch a competing product.
This absence is not due to a lack of technical capability but a lag in product strategy. As agentic systems become mainstream, failing to position in time means losing a key market position.
Mollick explains in detail the agent modes of ChatGPT and Claude in his guide, but admits the naming system is confusing. ChatGPT offers Work and Codex modes, while Claude has Cowork and Code. Mollick states bluntly: 'There is no memorable correspondence between these names.'
What's more, the same name means different things on different platforms. For example, ChatGPT Work on mobile devices merely removes network restrictions for the Code Interpreter container, while on desktop it becomes a simplified interface for Codex. Mollick finds this difference 'extremely unintuitive.'
This article is based on Simon Willison's retelling of Ethan Mollick's guide; all information comes from this secondary source. Mollick's original guide is not directly cited, so specific details (such as naming conventions) are at the source_claim level.
AI tools are shifting from chat-based interaction to agentic systems, but product naming and functional positioning confusion remain major obstacles to user experience.
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