AI is making people dumb, Claude Code head says soon it will take their thinking ability
Anthropic's product head for Claude Code and Claude Cowork, Cat Wu, believes that in the future AI will not just automate things for you, but it will likely know your needs before you understand them yourself.
Artificial intelligence (AI) can be quite helpful in a variety of things. Tools like Claude Code can now write hundreds, if not thousands, of lines of code by a single prompt. You can now even use AI agents to automate different tasks, freeing you from having to do tedious tasks. But, Anthropic’s head of product for Claude Code and Cowork, Cat Wu, believes that AI will soon go a step further. Wu reckons that in the future AI may be able to figure out your needs for you.
Cat Wu insists that soon AI tools like Claude Code will become proactive. That is, unlike the current state where AI needs instructions from humans, it will be able to do almost everything by itself. She told Techcrunch, "I think the next big thing is proactivity. Last year we were in this world of synchronous development.”
At the moment, people are using tools like Claude Code to automate particular routine work. That is, a human first thinks about what they need from the AI, and then asks it to automate that task. But Cat Wu is confident that soon, humans may not need to think at all. Instead, the AI will think on your behalf, and tell you what you may need from it.
She explained, “I think the next step is that Claude understands what you work on, and just sets up some of these automations for you."
AI may be making you dumber already
Wu’s comments come at a time when there is broader debate around the impact of AI on humans. Recent studies have shown that people are becoming more dependent on AI. One study found that people using AI tools for around 10 to 15 minutes performed worse when the tool was removed.
Another study found that while AI improved immediate speed and accuracy, users who had relied on it were more likely to struggle, skip difficult questions or give up once they had to work independently.
This could make Wu’s vision ideal for the future. As humans will no longer need to think as critically when it comes to automating routines, as the AI will know exactly what you need already
Keep in mind that in the past, many have said that AI may replace humans in most jobs. Tech billionaire Elon Musk has gone as far to claim that humans will be free from work, and then can grow vegetables if they so want to.
Anthropic has been working on making Claude more autonomous for some time now. With features like auto mode and code review, Claude can now do more tasks, and even make some decisions without needing your approval.