For over a year now, my favorite large language model has been Anthropic’s Claude. I use it in two ways: the way that’s most familiar to people, chatting in my web browser or their desktop app, and a specialized, programming-focused interface called Claude Code that I run directly in a folder on my computer. Claude Code has actually become my favorite way to access Anthropic models, so when I saw their announcement about Cowork, which is essentially a version of Claude Code that isn’t oriented toward building software, I got genuinely excited. That’s exactly how I’ve been using it myself.

I’ve been thinking about the research showing that strong friendships and social connections are an indicator of longevity. Initially it seems weird. You’d think it would be about diet, exercise, stress reduction, and things like that. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. When you have close friends and social connections, that sustains you. It gives you things to look forward to, people you can vent to and laugh with. You can find out about their lives, too: what they’re doing, what’s important to them. Then they can do the same for you.

I’ve been thinking lately about how much can happen when you just keep showing up. Not in any dramatic way, just consistently, month after month.

I recently heard Cory Doctorow speak about enshittification, his framework for understanding how digital platforms decay over time. The talk was wonderful and thought-provoking in the way good author talks should be. Cory challenges my thinking regularly, particularly when we don’t see eye to eye. I actually agree with most of what he says about AI, though my personal experience leads me to draw different conclusions from time to time.