How I Use Claude
Claude is Anthropic’s AI, like ChatGPT but more capable. I was a casual user until the 23 October release (informally “Claude 3.6”), when it crossed a quality threshold I didn’t even know was there. It is really, really good. I have been using it a lot more since, and I got curious as to how much more.
You can export your Claude conversation history. It’s just a zip file with a massive JSON blob. I wrote the types to represent it, and Claude wrote most of the matplotlib. The code is here, and it’s set up so you can run it on your own export very easily.
The most striking change is the cumulative amount of words I have written to Claude. You don’t need any statistics to see hard takeoff:
I remember, halfway through the year, feeling guilty for paying $20 a month for a $2000/hr consultant on every topic who is infinitely industrious and instantly available, and then hardly using it. If phones are the library of Alexandria in our pocket, Claude is like having Aristachos of Samos on retainer.
What changed after 3.6, that before I had to actively try to find uses for Claude, and now I’m mired in more possibilities than I have time to pursue?
