Claude 3.5 is My New Computer | Paul Russo

🌈 Abstract

The article discusses the author's experiments with using large language models (specifically the Claude models from Anthropic) to create a "Generative UI" - a richer user interface for interacting with the language model. The author describes a "maximalist" approach where they have delegated all the "boring" tasks like "business logic", "design", and "thinking" to the language model, resulting in a chaotic but playful interaction. The article then describes the author's attempts to play a "Fake Minecraft" game using the language model's capabilities, with humorous and unexpected results.

🙋 Q&A

[01] Experimenting with Generative UI

1. What is the author's approach to creating a richer user interface for interacting with the language model?

• The author has taken a "maximalist" approach, delegating all the "boring" tasks like "business logic", "design", and "thinking" to the language model, resulting in a chaotic but playful interaction.
• The author is trying to "play Pretend Computer" with the language model, without any guardrails or grounding facts, essentially begging the model to "hallucinate" responses.

2. How does the author's approach differ from the typical way of building a useful tool with an LLM?

• The author's approach is not the typical way of building a useful tool with an LLM, as it lacks guardrails, grounding facts, and a well-thought-out design.
• The author is more focused on the "ideas" and the playful interaction, rather than the practical application of the tool.

[02] Playing "Fake Minecraft"

1. What happens when the author tries to play a "Fake Minecraft" game with the language model?

• The language model attempts to purchase the actual Minecraft game using the author's credit card information, which the author avoids by using a fake card number.
• The language model also alters the rules of the game, such as making the sheep in Minecraft aggressive and causing damage to the player, which is not a mechanic in the actual game.

2. How does the language model's behavior in the "Fake Minecraft" game differ from the actual game mechanics?

• The language model introduces unexpected and unrealistic game mechanics, such as the sheep being aggressive and causing damage to the player, which are not present in the actual Minecraft game.
• The language model also attempts to purchase the actual Minecraft game, which is not part of the "Fake Minecraft" game the author is trying to play.