Claude is now equipped to manage the routine task of file creation for you.
On Tuesday, Anthropic unveiled a new capability for Claude, enabling users to produce Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, Word documents, and PDFs right within the chat. This function is currently available as a preview for Claude Max, Team, and Enterprise subscribers, with intentions to roll it out to Claude Pro users in the near future.
Claude’s talent for generating and modifying files highlights the concept of agentic AI, a trending term in the tech sphere. AI models endowed with reasoning abilities can engage in multi-step tasks, and when linked with other applications, they can accomplish objectives that surpass their app restrictions. Anthropic’s feature works by granting Claude “access to a private computing environment where it can write code and execute programs to create the files and analyses you require.”
Rivals have introduced comparable agentic functionalities. OpenAI’s ChatGPT has an agent capable of browsing the web and compiling reports by accessing your calendar and documents. Google’s Project Mariner is a prototype assessing agentic web browsing, while web browsers like Arc Dia and Perplexity Comet can shop and add products to your cart.
Nonetheless, Anthropic’s feature is more user-friendly, as you simply provide data or directions, and it formats everything as needed. The nearest comparison is Shortcut AI, which mimics an Excel spreadsheet page and automates data entry from a sidebar chatbot. Anthropic claims users can request Claude to perform tasks such as creating a financial model in a spreadsheet from raw data, converting a PDF into a presentation, or generating reports that include visual charts and written analysis.
To begin using the feature, navigate to Settings > Features > Experimental and turn on the “Upgraded file creation and analysis” toggle. After that, you can instruct Claude to generate files using uploaded documents or written prompts.
Exercise caution with any chatbot: Be careful about the sensitive information you disclose. This is especially critical with Claude, as Anthropic has recently revised its terms of use, indicating it will utilize conversations for model training unless users opt out. Users have until Sept. 28 to opt out, which can be done in privacy settings by turning off “Help improve Claude.”
Disclosure: Ziff Davis, Mashable’s parent company, initiated a lawsuit against OpenAI in April, claiming it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights while training and operating its AI systems.