Select models by matching their strengths to the likely failure modes of the task.
Tasks do not choose models; failure modes do. A workflow label like "drafting" or "analysis" hides what actually matters. Different tasks inside the same label break for different reasons. The fastest way to improve model choice is to surface those reasons before you compare vendors or prices. Name the failure Ask what would make the output unusable. Wrong facts? Missed nuance? Bad OCR? Slow response time? Excess cost at scale? Each answer points to a different model strength. Match strength to risk Reasoning-heavy work wants stronger inference. Document-heavy work wants solid multimodal handling. High-volume easy-to-check work wants low cost and…
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