This is a column about AI. My boyfriend works at Anthropic. look My full ethics disclosure is here.
I.
One of my main biases as a technology journalist is that I like trying new software. If you show me a promising new tool, I immediately commit my entire inbox and calendar to it. Over time, I began to curb this trendI realize that I usually lose more time with so-called productivity tools than I gain with them. Still, when I read about innovative widgets, I can’t help but want to download them.
And last week, when I read an article titled “.Clawdbot shows us the future of personal AI assistants” I knew I was in trouble. mac storydescribed an open source artificial intelligence running locally connected to all the most important services in his life. He speaks to it via voice notes and Telegram, and used it to replace (for free) the automation features he previously paid for with Zapier. If you could imagine it, Viticci wrote, there was a good chance that the tool then called Clawdbot could build it. He wondered what the future of apps would look like once AI was powerful enough.
Vitic writes:
Clawdbot is a boutique, nerdy project for now, but think of it as a foundational trend for the future. When the leading consumer LLMs become smart and intuitive enough to adapt on-demand for specific functionality, and when we finally get to the point where you can do or create anything in Claude or ChatGPT on a computer without a terminal UI, what will happen to the “apps” created by professional developers? I’m particularly concerned about standalone utility apps. If Clawdbot works the way I want it to, by creating a virtual remote control for my LG TV (which is what I did) and by giving me a personalized report with audio every morning (another cron job I set up), why go to the App Store and look for pre-built solutions created by others? What happens to shortcuts when the “automation” you want to carefully create is actually just a text message to a remote digital assistant?
These are great questions. The longer it gets Use Claude CodeI often wonder the same thing. At the moment, Claude Code has some limitations that prevent it from taking over computers in the way Viticci described. Still, reading about Clawdbot made me curious that its future might be closer than I thought.
And last Saturday, You have visited Clawdbot’s website.
In many ways, Clawdbot was similar to Claude Code. It was so similar that Anthropic asked independent developer Peter Steinberger to change the name. So Clawdbot is now Moltbot. The rest of this article will refer to it as such.
Similar to Claude Code, Moltbot is installed via terminal commands and allows you to interact with a large language model of your choice. (You’ll need to bring your own API key; I’ve plugged in keys from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google to enable various features.) Also, like Claude, Moltbot can generate text and write code.
However, Moltbot differs from regular LLMs in several ways that I found appealing.
One is that it runs locally on your machine. (In my case, it’s a 2024 M4 MacBook Pro.) Of course, the message is sent to the AI provider. However, the core infrastructure that handles Moltbot’s memory, scripts, and other tools remains on your computer.
Second, you can add it to your favorite messaging apps, including Telegram, Discord, Slack, and Signal. There are several reasons for this, one of which is that you can easily send messages to Moltbot from your mobile phone.
And third, Moltbot promised to have a permanent memory. Claude Code forgets much of what happened in a particular session and must be constantly reminded. Moltbot creates a series of daily notes about user interactions that can be loaded into LLM’s context window, which is said to improve recall compared to standard command-line tools.
On YouTube, I came across a few hypebeasts who looked at my recommendations and promised me more from Moltbot. X and YouTube creators said they purchased the Mac mini so they could continue to run the tool, then known as Clawdbot. “Clawdbot is the most powerful AI tool I’ve ever used in my lifeAlex Finn promised that Moltbot would be my “24/7 AI employee.” Another creator promised me this.How to run your business and life 24/7 with Clawdbot”
By the end of the weekend, Best Buy was sold out of the Mac mini in San Francisco.
I was convinced. I installed Moltbot with that one command and found it very easy to onboard. (In hindsight, this was the high point I had with this tool.)
In about 10 minutes, I was able to connect Moltbot to many of the core systems I use in my life, including email accounts, calendars, Notion, Todoist, Capacities, and more. Once that worked, I started working on a project that defined my week with Moltbot. It’s a highly personalized morning briefing that brings all the elements of my life together in one place.
II.
I know this project sounds kind of boring.
But one thing is that it gave me a chance to see what Moltbot can do with all the services I’ve pieced together. Second, if it works, you can create something unique that you couldn’t build yourself.
And finally, and I only realized this late in the process, seeing the specific way Moltbot broke led me to uninstall Moltbot from my computer.
