DeepResearch for Architects
I have been reading Tim Lee’s Understanding AI newsletter [link] for a few months now (early 2025). I have found it really helps to understand what is going on.
Here’s another timely evaluation of available AI apps: https://creatoreconomy.so/p/an-opinionated-guide-on-which-ai-model-2025
DeepResearch Evaluation
Recently Tim Lee asked his readers to help him evaluate how well Google’s DeepResearch and OpenAI’s DeepResearch handled research in areas he wasn’t familiar with.
I volunteered.
I put together a prompt to get a code checklist for a building.
Here are the two responses he obtained. You will see the final prompt that he used with the AI apps included with each response.
You can read his report on the two AI apps here. [link] I didn’t expect to be mentioned, but … anyway Response B was significantly better and it was produced by OpenAI DeepResearch.
Tim got 19 responses from different industries, which you can read here. [link]
Takeaway
The time is here to begin using AI for research. Using a prompt like the one in the example can provide you an in-depth code checklist for your project in a total of about 15 minutes. Compare that to the hours I used to spend getting something equivalent.
I use Perplexity daily instead of Google or DuckDuckGo for any kind of question I have - architecture, sports, summarizing podcasts, advice for my son’s resume update, SUV comparisons, everything.
BTW you can ask AI to improve your question/prompt to get better responses.
My point is that you have questions every day too, and AI is ideal for getting the answers. My personal preference is Perplexity, but Claude is a close second. And there are a dozen or more to choose from.