Swapped GPT-4 for a smaller model and got better results for my roofing quotes

I was dead set on using the biggest AI for everything until I tried Claude Haiku for writing up estimate summaries. It cut my processing time from 5 minutes down to under 90 seconds and the descriptions were actually more readable for customers. Has anyone else found that bigger isn't always better for specific business tasks?

3 comments

3 Comments

holly_walker7615d ago

Bet you'd get even faster results using your brain instead of outsourcing it.

lewis.troy15d agoMost Upvoted

Outsource your thinking to the right tools and you've got a shortcut, not a crutch. Same way a calculator's faster than doing long division in your head when you're slammed with real math. Smarter to save your brainpower for the bigger picture stuff instead of grinding through every little detail.

the_joel13d ago

holly_walker76 I get where youre coming from but I really disagree with that take. Using a smaller model for specific tasks isnt "outsourcing your thinking" any more than using Excel macros for repetitive formulas is. I do my own roofing estimates too and I found the exact same thing with Haiku its way more to the point and customers actually read the whole thing instead of glazing over at a block of dense text. The big models overexplain everything like theyre writing a college paper, but for a quote you just need clear numbers and a plain description of what youre covering. Saving that 3 minutes per quote adds up fast when youre doing 10+ a week, and it frees up my brain for actually checking the math and materials.