# Why does Pickaxe limit AI model capabilities?

**URL:** <https://community.pickaxe.co/t/why-does-pickaxe-limit-ai-model-capabilities/4050>\
**Category:** General\
**Created:** [February 9, 2025, 3:48am UTC](https://community.pickaxe.co/t/why-does-pickaxe-limit-ai-model-capabilities/4050 "2025-02-09T03:48:10Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![jjacoby](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex004/user_avatar/community.pickaxe.co/jjacoby/32/2083_2.png) [@jjacoby](https://community.pickaxe.co/u/jjacoby)\
**Post date:** [February 9, 2025, 3:48am UTC](https://community.pickaxe.co/t/why-does-pickaxe-limit-ai-model-capabilities/4050/1 "2025-02-09T03:48:10Z")

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Why does Pickaxe limit the AI model capabilities?

For example, OpenAI’s ChatGPT has the ability to output files in **DOCX** (Microsoft Word), **PDF** (Portable Document Format), **XLSX** (Microsoft Excel), **CSV** (Comma-Separated Values), **PPTX** (Microsoft PowerPoint), and others.

But, when I ask a Pickaxe AI tool to output in a specific format, it tells me it cannot produce files. E.g.,

 ![image](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex004/uploads/pickaxeproject/original/2X/4/4027aa580b201f5d965be0b553317a11bc011110.png)

If my Pickaxe tools can’t at least do what ChatGPT does, then what’s the point in trying to create value-added capabilities through Pickaxe?

Also, I’m using my API Key, so I’m not even using Pickaxe credits.

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**Author:** ![nathaniel](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex004/user_avatar/community.pickaxe.co/nathaniel/32/11_2.png) [@nathaniel](https://community.pickaxe.co/u/nathaniel)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 5:14am UTC](https://community.pickaxe.co/t/why-does-pickaxe-limit-ai-model-capabilities/4050/2 "2025-02-10T05:14:33Z")

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Pickaxe does not ever limit any “model” capabilities.

No LLM can “generate word documents” as part of its functioning. However, companies like OpenAI build in extra functionality, to do cool things like generating word docs.

On Pickaxe, you can do the _same thing._ Simply go to the act tab, and pick the functionality you’d like. I know we already have a generate PDF action, as well as a word doc generator…

 ![Screenshot 2025-02-09 at 9.14.10 PM](https://canada1.discourse-cdn.com/flex004/uploads/pickaxeproject/original/2X/b/ba0a7726b60fc7c5dc9d4927d8045e283f1d16cd.png)

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**Author:** ![admin\_mike](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex004/user_avatar/community.pickaxe.co/admin_mike/32/283_2.png) [@admin\_mike](https://community.pickaxe.co/u/admin_mike)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2025, 11:54pm UTC](https://community.pickaxe.co/t/why-does-pickaxe-limit-ai-model-capabilities/4050/3 "2025-02-10T23:54:26Z")

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Yes this is a common question. ChatGPT is actually a web-app that OpenAI has built on top of their AI models. A lot of the functionality is not actually AI functionality. For example, when you upload a PDF they use a PDF extraction to pull the text and then dump that into ChatGPT (same as Pickaxe). And many of the other functionalities are basically other pieces of software connected to their language models (basically they’re “actions”).

So ChatGPT is basically a General-Purpose Super Pickaxe that OpenAI built itself. Same thing Claude.ai

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**Author:** ![jjacoby](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex004/user_avatar/community.pickaxe.co/jjacoby/32/2083_2.png) [@jjacoby](https://community.pickaxe.co/u/jjacoby)\
**Post date:** [February 11, 2025, 12:10am UTC](https://community.pickaxe.co/t/why-does-pickaxe-limit-ai-model-capabilities/4050/4 "2025-02-11T00:10:58Z")

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Thanks, Mike. That makes really good sense and is an important distinction.