Weekly: The All-Crushing Claude

23 thoughts on “Weekly: The All-Crushing Claude”

1. I imagine that many of my prompts were part of the data analysis that led to the Cowork product. I was using Claude Code not only to build and validate software products but also to perform cited market research about the target market and penetration opportunities. This was way back when Opus 4.1 was the premium model, 5 months ago.

   An interesting aside to this whole Anthropic story, they actually seem to be cognizant of the harms that Generative AI can cause and are actively trying to build models that avoid problematic behavior. I appreciate that effort and intentionality as much as I appreciated Google’s don’t be evil mantra. (Until they decided to sell us all out for ad revenue)

   The sad part about this whole story is that as a retail investor, I have no path to invest in this company. Private equity will reap the rewards of the AI firm that realized what their mission was early and executed on it intentionally. My gut instinct says they probably already have Opus 5.0 ready to go and are just waiting for the competition to drop their next model before they drip out the next iteration Claude improvement that slightly beats them. It’s been effective so far.

   Either way, I can’t praise what these models have enabled me to accomplish over the past 6 months, truly life changing technology.

   1. I sent the link for Claude/Cowork to my daughter.
      🙂

2. I’m already doing the white-collar equivalent of doomsday prepping: chasing meme stocks hoping that I hit it big enough to secure the future of me and my children but keeping a Wendy’s application handy just in case.

   Seriously though, if you don’t think AI is coming for your job and respond accordingly, you are going to get wrecked.

   1. What is ‘respond accordingly?’ Last I checked, there’s no playbook for this.

      1. Either figure out how to use AI in your current job and stay on top of the latest developments or find an industry where AI won’t double (or more) people’s productivity.

         I have one person on my team now because I can do by myself what I would’ve needed two or three analysts to do a few years ago and that’s just using ChatGPT and Gamma.

3. It must suck to be in high school now, trying to figure out how you’ll make a living. More than technology, it’s the pace of change. Traditional white collar jobs will certainly take a beating and not everyone can or wants to be an electrician or plumber. Even as a college freshman, your chosen field will probably change dramatically at least 3 times before you graduate. Of course there will still be gaming, prediction betting, AR porn and THC. Gotta keep the masses asleep so they don’t remember where they left the pitchforks and torches. Feels like we are heading for multiple tipping points all at once. Perhaps the biggest one – climate change – is all but forgotten with the daily drama circus our news has become.

   1. “Of course there will still be gaming, prediction betting, AR porn and THC.”

      This is probably a good time for everyone to revisit “Dope” and “Hustle”…

      https://heisenbergreport.com/2025/05/03/dope/
      https://heisenbergreport.com/2025/07/02/hustle/

      1. Example #1 – There are so many wonderful things to bet on during the “Big Game” (I don’t want the NFL to sue me for saying Super Bowl.) My favorites include over-under wagers on the length of the national anthem.

         It does remind me of the waning days of the Roman Empire …

   2. There will always be work for economists. It’s hard to get fired when it’s impossible to be right. One might try to say the same about meteorologists, but unlike economists, who merely pretend to be good at math, to be a meteorologist you have to actually be good at math.

      Source: my economics degree

      1. We just went through a week of sleet, snow, freezing rain and high winds here. The forecasting was excellent and they kept mentioning they were using AI. Impressive or very lucky.

4. There will always be work for engineers. I find AI helps me do more quality control and deep research. It also helps dme navigate government regulations. What a tool to cut through government regulations? All hail government regulations!!!! However it does not eliminate risk nor develop judgement.

   1. hale

      1. Hal 🙂

5. Question for the group regarding Opus/Claude and its progeny (more to come).

   What hardware must it run on? Does it require the power of the massive computer database campuses being built, many/most powered by NVDA chips, or can some/most of it be run more locally?

   I ask in all earnestness, because I have no clue.

   Thanks

   1. The current models run on servers which are much more powerful than your home computer. More powerful than most corporations run their operations on. Therefore people access these tools using the internet. Innovation will whittle away and maybe even eliminate that requirement, but for now that is a pipe dream.

      1. Thank you.

6. I have to disagree with some of the other comments. Engineers, economists, mathematicians, meteorologists, and unfortunately even financial/political writers will be displaced. The only jobs that will be left will be those that need hands, fingers and backs. And not for typing. Physical jobs, the ones considered menial today.

   1. This writer ain’t goin’ nowhere, or at least not on account of any robot. I can assure you of that.

      1. On a related note: One thing we’re overestimating is the appetite for AI-created art. AI can produce new Doors albums, new Beatles singles and Elvis-Tupac collaborations all day, but would anyone seriously want to listen to that beyond the novelty of the first spin or two? The same with literature. I’m sure ChatGPT can write “Crime and Punishment II: Raskolnikov’s Redemption” or “The Sun Also Rises, Again,” but nobody’s going to read them.

         1. I don’t know…if AI redid the last few seasons of Game of Thrones or LOST, I’d watch.

            AI may not completely replace artistic expression, but you’re underestimating how many people enjoy the schlep that Netflix produces.

            I’m glad you’re sticking around though. Does that mean we can assume your contingency plan for life after Heisenberg doesn’t involve a Black Mirror version of yourself?

            1. Dang it, got my Yiddish words mixed up. I meant dreck.

7. My “near term” AI fears are more what I guess one could call “macro”: the potential for havoc on the 2026 US mid-term elections. The AI agent ability to create and enhance narratives is immense.

8. I’m curious how this Anthropic moment will ultimately compare and contrast with last year’s Deep Seek episode…