Exploring OpenAI o3: A Deep Dive Into Its Capabilities and Impact

The new Openai o3 model, significantly improves artificial intelligence. It handles challenging problems better, makes fewer mistakes, and is smarter in how it reasons and uses tools. It scored an impressive 87.7% on the GPQA Diamond benchmark, which is full of expert-level science questions that aren’t available online. This score shows how strong the model is at understanding and solving complex questions.

But it’s not just about test scores. The o3 model works in a new way that helps it solve multi-step problems, especially when using tools like a calculator, web browser, or code interpreter. This ability is a significant improvement from earlier AI models.

Let’s examine what makes the O3 so powerful, what it can do, and how it differs from older models.

Big Gains in Performance

Compared to earlier models, o3 performs better across many areas.

• On a coding benchmark called SWE-bench Verified, o3 scored 71.7%. The earlier model (o1) scored only 48.9%, significantly improving.
• In competitive coding rankings (like Codeforces), o3 earned an Elo score of 2727, up from o1’s 1891. That’s a huge leap, showing how better o3 is at solving real coding problems.
• A smaller version of the model, o4-mini, scored an impressive 92.7% on the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME), a tough high-school-level math competition.

Also, openai o3 makes 20% fewer serious mistakes when solving real-world, complex tasks. It’s especially strong in areas like software development, business consulting, and creative thinking.”

How o3 Thinks: Simulated Reasoning

One of the most significant changes in o3 is how it thinks through problems. It doesn’t just follow a script—it can pause, reflect, and simulate reasoning to determine the best answer.

Private Thinking: Smarter Than Step-by-Step

Older AI models could do chain-of-thought (CoT) reasoning, where the model explains its steps as it solves a problem. But o3 goes beyond that. It uses something called a “private chain of thought.” This means the model thinks quietly, refining its reasoning internally before answering.

Unlike other models that show their whole reasoning up front (like DeepSeek’s R1), o3 keeps its reasoning hidden until it’s ready to respond. It organizes its thoughts first, then gives a more precise and more accurate answer. It also checks for unsafe content or confusing language and can even translate its thoughts into your language to ensure you understand.

Simulated Reasoning: Searching for the Best Path

Openai o3 can explore many possible solutions before choosing the best one. This is called simulated reasoning. It’s like how a person might try out a few ideas in their head before saying something out loud. o3 can even backtrack if it finds a mistake and tries a different path.

This is similar to how AI systems like AlphaZero play games like chess—they look ahead, simulate moves, and choose the best one. That’s what o3 does with reasoning: it thinks ahead, checks different options, and finds the best solution.

Balancing Speed and Intelligence

All this deep thinking takes time. Compared to older models, openai o3 might take longer to respond, especially on complex questions.

• For example, GPT-4o-mini gives its first answer in about 1.0 seconds, while the older o1 model takes around 3.8 seconds.
• Users can now choose how much reasoning effort they want. You can set it to “medium” (the default) for faster answers or “high” for more thorough thinking when needed.

This flexibility means you can choose speed or depth—depending on your needs.

Tool Use: A Truly Autonomous Assistant

One of the most exciting features of o3 is its agentic capabilities. That means it can take action by itself—using tools like Python code, web search, and file analysis—without being told every step.

Multi-Step Tool Use

In the past, AI models needed help to use tools. You had to tell them what to do at every stage. But o3 can now chain multiple tool actions together all by itself.

Let’s say you ask for a meeting time that works for several people. It can check calendars, suggest times, and send emails—all as part of one conversation. You don’t need to guide it at every step, which makes it ideal for complex workflows.

Yes, it may take a bit longer and use more computing power, but it saves effort and reduces mistakes—especially for developers building apps with AI.

Working with Python, Search, and Files

Openai o3 is fully integrated with tools like:

• Python: It can run code to analyze data or images.
• Web Search: It can search the internet to find current information.
• File Analysis: It can open files, search inside them, and pull out key information.

Using the Responses API, developers can give o3 access to tools so it can solve complex problems involving images, documents, or custom o1s. It doesn’t rely only on pre-programmed functions—it can generate new tool uses on the fly.

Learning When to Use Tools

It’s not just about how to use tools—it’s also about knowing when to use them. OpenAI trained o3 using reinforcement learning, where the model gets rewards for making wise choices. Over time, o3 learned to pick the right tool for the job—without human guidance.

A system called ReTool helps o3 combine coding and language reasoning in real-time, making it even better at handling open-ended tasks like planning, analyzing data, or making decisions.

A New Kind of Visual Intelligence

Another significant improvement in o3 is its understanding of images. Unlike earlier models that simply “looked” at images, o3 can think with them, which makes it much better at visual reasoning.

Thinking with Images

Most older models convert images into text before thinking about them. However, openai o3 can include the raw image directly in its reasoning process. This allows it to:

• Understand diagrams and charts.
• Interpret blurry or upside-down photos.
• Zoom in or rotate pictures to get more detail.

Keeping the original image active in its “mind,” o3 can revisit different parts while thinking—just like a human might look back at a photo while solving a problem.

Modifying Images While Reasoning

If o3 runs into a messy image, it can clean it up on the fly. For example, if a photo is too small, it can zoom in. If something is upside down, it can rotate it. These mid-reasoning tricks help o3 extract practical details, even from low-quality pictures.

This feature makes it especially useful in science, math, or any job where charts and visuals matter.

Great Scores on Visual Tests

Openai o3 scores very well on industry tests that involve visual problem-solving:

• MathVista: 86.8% (up from 71.8% on the older model)
• CharXiv-Reasoning: 78.6% (up from 55.1%)
• MMMU Benchmark: 82.9% (up from 77.6%)

Still, visual reasoning is complex. Even the best models—including o3—struggled on ZeroBench, where advanced tests produced 0.0% scores. This shows room for improvement in how AI handles visual reasoning.

Safety First: Better Alignment with Policies

With great power comes responsibility. That’s why OpenAI built stronger safety features into o3.

Deliberative Alignment: AI That Understands Safety Rules

Older models followed safety rules by learning from labelled examples. But o3 goes a step further. It uses deliberative alignment, which reads and reasons through OpenAI’s safety policies.

So when you ask a tricky or sensitive question, o3 can:

• Check the policies.
• Reflect on whether the question might break a rule.
• Respond in a safer, more thoughtful way.

This makes O3 better at handling controversial or dangerous topics. It doesn’t just guess—it thinks through the issue based on real policy documents.

Conclusion: A Smarter, Safer, More Capable AI

OpenAI o3 isn’t just an upgrade—it’s a significant leap forward. It can reason deeply, use tools intelligently, understand visuals in a new way, and follow safety rules more carefully than ever.

Whether you’re a developer, student, businessperson, or just someone who wants smarter AI help, o3 offers powerful new capabilities.

And the best part? It does all this while giving you more control—you decide how fast, deep, and safe the responses must be.

Make sure to check out our article on Apple Intelligence: ChatGPT Integration with OpenAI.