The AI That Learned to Use a Mouse

24 October 2024

This week Anthropic released an upgraded Claude 3.5 Sonnet and, more interestingly, a public beta of something it calls computer use. In plain English: Claude can now look at a screen, move a cursor, click buttons and type — the way a person does.

It's the first frontier AI model to offer this openly, and companies like Canva, Replit and DoorDash are already experimenting with tasks that take dozens of steps to complete.

Why should a business owner care?

Because this is the direction of travel. Until now, AI tools have mostly answered questions and drafted text. An AI that can operate software is a different proposition: think filling in forms, moving data between systems, or working through a spreadsheet — the repetitive jobs that eat your admin hours.

It's early. Anthropic is candid that the feature is experimental and makes mistakes, which is exactly why it's in beta. Nobody should be handing it their accounts package just yet.

The takeaway

Don't rush to use it — but do notice it. Twelve months ago the conversation was "can AI write my emails?" Now it's "can AI do the task itself?" If you're mapping out where AI fits in your business, keep a list of the mind-numbing, click-heavy jobs nobody enjoys. They're first in the queue.