--- title: "Anthropic Now Lets Claude Take Control of Your Entire Computer" description: "DesktopGPT If, for some reason, you wanted to hand over total control of your personal computer to an AI model, you can now do that with Anthropic. The OpenAI competitor released a new version of its Claude 3.5 Sonnet model on Tuesday, which is capable of a bunch of fundamental tasks on your desktop, such […]" date: "2024-10-22" modified: "2024-10-22" authors: - name: "Frank Landymore" job_title: "Contributing Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/flandymore" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/anthropic-claude-control-pc" categories: - "Anthropic" - "Artificial Intelligence" tags: - "ai agents" - "anthropic" - "generative ai" - "the digest" --- # Anthropic Now Lets Claude Take Control of Your Entire Computer ![The latest update to Anthropic's Claude model turns it into a full-blown "AI agent" that can use anything installed on your computer.]() *\Image: Getty / Futurism\* ## DesktopGPT If for some reason you wanted to hand over total control of your personal computer to an AI model, you can now do that with Anthropic. The Amazon-backed OpenAI competitor [released a new version]() of its Claude 3.5 Sonnet model on Tuesday, which is capable of a bunch of fundamental tasks on your desktop, such as inputting keystrokes and mouse clicks that allow it to use potentially any applications you have installed. "I think we're going to enter into a new era where a model can use all of the tools that you use as a person to get tasks done," Anthropic's chief science officer Jared Kaplan [told *Wired*](). The update is Anthropic's entry in the [industry race]() to take commercial AI models beyond the confines of a chatbox and turn them into full-blown "[AI agents]()." ## Tasks Failed Successfully "AI agents" is the somewhat nebulous term used to describe productivity-geared AI models designed to use software and carry out other computer tasks like a human would, with varying degrees of versatility. Some, like [Cognition AI's Devin](), are designed specifically for programming. Anthropic instead markets its AI agent as an all-rounder, claiming it can browse the web and use any website or application. What you do with it is up to you: they can be technical tasks, like programming, or simpler ones, like trip planning. In a demo described by *Wired*, for example, Claude is asked to plan a trip to see the Golden Gate Bridge at sunrise with a friend. The AI opens a web browser, looks up a good viewing spot on Google along with other details, and adds the trip to a calendar app. Impressive, but *Wired* notes that it didn't include other tidbits that would've been helpful — like how to actually get there, for instance. In another demo, Claude is prompted to set up a simple website, which it does using Microsoft's Visual Studio Code. It even opens a local server to test the website it just made. There's a small error with the creation, but the AI corrects the code when prompted. ## Double Agents However promising the tech may seem, AI models still struggle with reliability, [especially when it comes to writing code]() — and Anthropic's is no exception. Even in a simple test that involved booking flights and modifying reservations, Claude 3.5 Sonnet only managed to complete less than half of these tasks successfully, [according to *TechCrunch*](). Clumsy as they may be, such AI agents also pose an obvious security risk. Would you want this experimental and sometimes unpredictable technology nosing around your computer files and using your web browser? Anthropic says that releasing them like this will help AI agents be safer — though, perhaps, at your expense. "We think it's far better to give access to computers to today's more limited, relatively safer models," Anthropic wrote in a statement, per *TechCrunch*. "This means we can begin to observe and learn from any potential issues that arise at this lower level, building up computer use and safety mitigations gradually and simultaneously." **More on AI:** *[Top "Reasoning" AI Models Can be Brought to Their Knees With an Extremely Simple Trick]()* ## Author At Futurism, my work has often centered on bringing a sense of clarity and insight to complex topics ranging from the regulation of emerging technologies to the esoteric ideologies of Silicon Valley executives, while striving not to lose the poetic sense of awe inspired by often-obscure fields like astrophysics and quantum computing. I broke the story of CNET using AI to produce articles that turned out to be riddled with factual errors and plagiarism — a dam-breaking inflection point, as I've reported, that's inspired copycats and endless discourse while beguiling stakeholders ranging from tech giants to purveyors of spam around the web. My work at Futurism has been cited by publications including CBS News, the Los Angeles Times, Vice, Gizmodo, Engadget, the Verge, and Vanity Fair. I grew up in locales ranging from India to China, and now live in the exotic suburbs of Virginia. In my free time, I'm an avid reader of weird sci-fi literature, an aficionado of East Asian cinema, and, regrettably, a relapsed gamer. Allegedly, I’m working on a debut novel, currently untitled. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()