Anthropic, the world's second most valuable AI startup, released a big model upgrade this week. I chatted with Alex Albert, head of developer relations, about the news. I also asked him how he uses AI in his personal life.
Albert said he taps Anthropic's Claude chatbot for loads of stuff, but he's been particularly impressed by its "ability with general life administration and management."
Claude, and its sibling Claude Code, can access your entire computer, so Albert sometimes asks the chatbot to diagnose issues with his laptop. In one recent example, Chrome seemed to be running slowly. Claude discovered the browser was using too much memory, and it fixed the issue by itself.
Albert also asked Claude to clean up the digital desktop on his computer. The chatbot sorted images and other random files into relevant groups, created new folders, and put the correct stuff in the right places.
Then there's what Albert called "vibe marketing." Claude can scan your computer for all your files and search through folders and downloads, etc. It can then automatically produce reports and articles based on these digital assets, he explained.
With access to the web, Claude can also make memes and crop images. Albert has used this capability to create some amusing things to post on X, including an animated GIF of sunglasses sliding down on his face.
And Claude can draw art in Excel spreadsheets by automatically filling in cells with different colors. "Excel art is a whole thing," Albert told me. Here's one he had Claude create.
Beyond fun stuff like this, Claude has gotten very good at Excel, according to Ethan Mollick, a Wharton professor who studies AI use. (I don't know spreadsheet formulas well, so I'm particularly excited by this.)
Sign up for BI's Tech Memo newsletter here. Reach out to me via email at abarr@bjinnox.com.
