# Models, Open Weights and the Changing Frontier

> Optional reading that distinguishes assistants from models and explores closed, open-weight and specialist systems.

[Confident with AI course contents](https://charli.info/training/confident-with-ai/)

Optional Further Study

Optional reading that distinguishes assistants from models and explores closed, open-weight and specialist systems.

**Estimated time:** 15 minutes. **Last reviewed:** 11 August 2026.

## What you need to know

This page stands alone. No previous AI knowledge is required. You need access to an AI assistant only for the activity.

**Learning outcome:** By the end, you will be able to distinguish a product interface from the model or models behind it.

## The lesson

An assistant is a service; a model is an engine it may use.

Open-weight models permit broader inspection or local use, but “open” has several meanings.

This field changes quickly, so product examples must be dated.

## Try it

Choose one assistant and find out which model it says it is using. Record the date and source of that information.

## Checkpoint

You can explain why the assistant name and model name are not interchangeable.

- Previous: [17. Check and Publish Visual Work Accessibly](https://charli.info/training/confident-with-ai/modules/17-publish-visual-work-accessibly/)
- [Course contents](https://charli.info/training/confident-with-ai/)
- Next: [Philosophy: Knowledge, Testimony and Answer-Shaped Objects](https://charli.info/training/confident-with-ai/further-study/philosophy-of-answer-shaped-objects/)

## About this course

*Confident with AI* was created by Charli-Jo Tyrer in association with the Technology Association of Visually Impaired People (TAVIP).

Licensed under [CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).