When ChatGPT launched, I felt the commentary was sufficient to understand what it was and what it did. Roughly a year ago, probably at the launch of a new version, the details of which I can't remember, I signed up for a paid account with Open AI. I believed in the work they were doing, and so I wanted to do my part to contribute. The free version was being used by everyone I knew who didn't have institutional access to the model. I knew that more than my $20, what counted was helping to demonstrate an appetite for subscription level use, so I voted with my dollar. I didn't do much with it, but it did give me the name of this website. Money comes and goes for me, so when the time came to cut back on subscriptions it was one of the first to get axed. Then, during Holy Week, I had the idea to use it for a writing project. I wanted to be able to say I'd only used the free version, but I very quickly hit my data limit and pacing counted more to me than trying to make some point. Shortly after that, I figured I'd make use of the subscription and put it to work helping redo my website. That was a frustrating process, during which I learned a lot. Different models offered different challenges in that area.
Going backwards in time, I was pretty excited when Google hastily launched its attempt to catch up. I wasn't excited about the product, per se. I was more excited to see the manufacturer of all of my personal tech get in the game. It's Google, I knew they'd catch up. I kept a browser tab open on it, and gradually tried to change my search habits. I don't recall using its app much, but I've used it a lot since it became integrated into Messages. This part I think is pure brilliance, having a thread with an LLM with one's regular conversations. I'm currently unhappy with its model because it's stopped behaving like a replacement for search and started behaving like a replacement for Wikipedia. Having a replacement for Wikipedia is cool at times, but I still want something that replaces search.
Recently, a friend suggested using Claude for coding, and so I signed up to finish the task of my website. I did in an afternoon what it would have taken me perhaps months with ChatGPT. Given that A) the subscription is paid for a year, and B) the ease of this task merits further exploration, it's most likely the primary model I'll use for the work. As I move into the next phase, I expect it'll help me identify targets online and assist in generating the content to move the agenda forward. In our conversations about this so far, the strategic vision has remained strictly my domain. There's probably a lot more I can do with it, and i'm excited to see where i can go with it.
*Editor's note: A lot of the content of this post was lost during some hacking attempts. I can't remember all the changes I made, but I don't know how much it matters. Right now this version of the post has to be good enough.*