Anthropic has introduced a new feature called Computer Usage in Claude. When enabled, it allows Clod to control your computer, move the mouse, and use screenshots to decide where to click. I took it for a spin to see what it could do.
Using Claude Computer Usage
Leaving Claude on Mac
I wanted to see what Claude Computer Usage could do, so I enabled it on a Mac running Claude desktop software. Currently, Computer Use is still only available on macOS, although Windows support is on the way. It’s in research preview and available to Pro and Max users on Cowork and Claude Code.
Activating Computer Use was very simple, although typically when I asked Claude how to do it, the chatbot didn’t think it was possible. I should have told you to look it up before accepting that the feature exists.
i went Parameterswas selected General under Desktop softwareand changed Computer Use about. I then granted permissions for accessibility and screen recording. If you’re worried about Claude getting into the program where you store the nuclear codes and destroying all of humanity, you can choose to block Computer Access from specific programs.
I didn’t believe it with my money
A lot of people use Computer Usage for coding tasks, but I wanted to try it out for more general tasks. I decided to see if Claude could help with some shopping.
I asked Claude Search on Amazon I need to create a native voice assistant for Home Assistant to find all the components. I asked to see review the scores and, if necessary, to check reviews to ensure that the products he selects are suitable for the project. I told Claude to add all the products he chose to the cart, but I didn’t log into my Amazon account in case Claude suddenly decided to spend thousands of dollars on technology.
Claude got to work right away. I was asked to give permission to read and edit on the Amazon website, and then I watched in real time as it started searching for the Raspberry Pi.
He found the Raspberry Pi, but then stopped the process to ask me if I wanted a mains USB microphone and a speaker or more capable ReSpeaker HAT. I answered the questions and Claude continued, adding the Raspberry Pi to my cart by pressing the appropriate buttons as I did myself.
- Brand
-
Raspberry Pi
- CPU
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Cortex-A72 (ARM v8)
With the Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, you can create all kinds of fun projects and upgrade gadgets around your home. Alternatively, install a full desktop OS and use it like a normal PC.
Computer usage is not fast
It’s a boring watch
As I sat down and watched my computer work itself out, the biggest takeaway was that it was incredibly slow. It’s not like in science fiction, where a robot picks up a book, flips through it for a second, and reads the whole thing. The whole process was much slower than when I did it manually.
Speed is not really the key. Computer Usage allows you to delegate tasks so that you don’t have to do them yourself and you can go do other things. I would say it took Claude about 15 minutes to find the products and add everything to the cart.
The end result was quite impressive. It added everything I needed to the cart and when I looked at the options they all had reasonable review scores and would be fit for purpose. Claude stopped now and then to ask me for confirmation on specific points, but the questions he asked were all reasonable.
Another frustration was that I hit the tool call limit for the session. I only had to press Continue to get Claude to continue, but that stops it being something you can start and leave unattended to finish, which makes it more useful.
To be honest, I could have done the same thing faster myself. Just being able to ask Claude to find some products and add them to my cart is really useful, but I still don’t trust it enough to click buy.
Claude can handle repetitive tasks
It just makes them too slow
The next thing I tried was a program that I couldn’t control directly through any API or MCP. The Draw Things app one image creation tool when you want to put yourself in a Studio Ghibli movie, you can use it to create native images without uploading your face to OpenAI.
I wanted to see if I could use Claude to repeat a complex yoga pose until I got it right. I asked Claude to keep creating images and iterating on the query until I got something that matched.
The first image was not properly posed and Claude kept editing the request to refine the image. It took many turns, which may be partly due to the limitations of the generative AI model, but after eight iterations it produced an image showing the correct pose. It would have taken me a long time to arrive at the final result myself, so this is something where Claude’s iterative power can really come in handy.
Using a computer is a start, but not perfect
It looks like AI is going
Computer Usage comes at a time when agent AI tools Like OpenClaw, it attracts a lot of attention. It seems that using AI for agentic purposes is the way things are going, and Computer Use is certainly an important step in that direction.
However, it is far from perfect. The process is very slow, and even when you try to lock everything down, you might accidentally expose your personal information. When I created the images, Claude tried to export them without me wanting them, and ended up revealing the names of common contacts on my share sheet. It’s not impossible that you could unknowingly expose more sensitive information such as passwords or bank details.
I still don’t fully trust Clod
Claude Computer usage, even in its infancy, is impressive. I hope that Anthropic can develop better security guards, because as it stands, I still don’t fully trust free reign on my computer. I can’t shake the feeling that he’s going to open up Chrome, walk into the Pentagon, and bring on Doomsday.
