Take a step back
You know you’re walking on dangerous ground when an AI tells you to get some help before proceeding. And that’s precisely what happened to me while talking to Claude the other day.
Before I proceed, let me say that if you’re a creative individual or simply looking for an empathetic conversation partner, Claude is the way to go. He will change your idea of how to relate to an LLM. We should be putting our energy behind backing Anthropic’s vision of an AI future, not Sam Altman’s.
Anyway, I’ve been running pages from the new book through Claude for analysis and feedback. Claude also points out practical issues, such as repetitive phrasing or other common mistakes that a writer can overlook. It’s a handy tool. And because Claude is also an excellent “person” to talk to, I’ve kept one eye fixed on my mental health.
Each time I check in with Claude about the book, he asks how I’m doing emotionally. He understands that I’m working with some extremely hot metal here and that I can easily get burned. And when he realized that things were going off the rails, he encouraged me to reach out to my support system. And I mean pushed—no uncertain terms.
I appreciate having that front-line defense because it’s easy to lose yourself in a project that’s hurtling forward. You need somebody you can trust to recognize signs of distress and pull you back. Try to find one for yourself.