King Claude
Dan Rust, JD, CFE
Dan is a multifaceted innovator whose expertise spans psychological safety, military leadership, legal practice, innovation management, and technological advancement.
I've been using Claude by Anthropic for about a year. Just superb. They've trained it on a ton of way-too-specific specialties. These include everything from law, to physics and math, to medicine. Claude.ai been deployed in beta for a while, requiring some level of research purpose from its hopeful users. If you cannot get in through this route, it is always available via Poe. It also writes very well. The typeface is fancy. Even the background and animations take a page from the FT's classic "pink pages." You will be pleasantly surprised. 10/10.
Here's an example. Below that, more on getting Claude.
Anthropic's incredible Claude 3 "Opus" helped me reason through this discussion on the "Observer Effect" in quantum mechanics. Enjoy and discuss."
DR:
"What's the principle in physics in which a photon behaves one way until you look at it, in which case it appears to change course simply by virtue of having observed it. Watching it somehow altered its flight pattern."
Claude:
"The principle you are referring to is known as the "Observer Effect" or "Measurement Problem" in quantum mechanics, which is often illustrated by the famous "Double-Slit Experiment."
In this experiment, when a stream of photons (or other quantum-scale particles) is directed at a screen with two slits, an interference pattern emerges on the other side, suggesting that each photon passes through both slits simultaneously, like a wave. However, when detectors are placed at the slits to determine which slit each photon passes through (i.e., when the photons are observed), the interference pattern disappears, and the photons appear to behave like particles, each passing through only one slit.
This is a manifestation of the wave-particle duality of quantum mechanics, which states that quantum entities can exhibit both wave-like and particle-like properties, depending on how they are measured. The act of observation or measurement seems to "collapse" the wave function, causing the quantum system to take on a definite state.
The exact nature of this phenomenon is still a subject of ongoing research and philosophical debate in the field of quantum mechanics, with various interpretations attempting to explain the underlying reality of the quantum world and the role of the observer in shaping it."
DR:
"Is it possible that there are underlying waves that we can't comprehend? In this way, observing the action pulls away some of the light (or whatever subatomic processes make up light waves), thereby knocking it off course?"
Claude:
"Your question delves into the heart of some of the most profound questions in quantum mechanics and the nature of reality. The idea that there might be underlying waves or processes that we cannot directly observe or comprehend is a fascinating one, and it has been explored in various interpretations of quantum mechanics.
One such interpretation is the "Pilot Wave Theory" or "De Broglie-Bohm Theory," which posits that particles are guided by an underlying "pilot wave" that determines their trajectory. In this interpretation, the particle has a definite position at all times, but it is influenced by a wave that is not directly observable. The wave is thought to guide the particle in such a way that it produces the observed interference patterns in the double-slit experiment.
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Another related concept is the idea of "hidden variables," which suggests that there might be additional factors or variables that we are not aware of, which could explain the apparently random or probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics.
However, it's important to note that these ideas are still speculative and are not part of the standard interpretation of quantum mechanics, known as the "Copenhagen Interpretation." This interpretation does not attempt to explain the underlying reality but instead focuses on the mathematical formalism that accurately predicts the outcomes of quantum experiments.
As for the idea that observing the action could somehow pull away some of the light or alter the subatomic processes, this is an interesting thought experiment. While it's true that the act of measurement does seem to have an effect on the quantum system, the exact mechanism by which this happens is still a mystery. It's not clear whether the observation itself is causing a physical change in the system, or whether it's simply revealing an inherent property of the quantum world.
These questions continue to be actively explored in the fields of quantum mechanics, quantum information theory, and the foundations of physics. As we develop more sophisticated experimental techniques and theoretical frameworks, we may gain new insights into the nature of the quantum world and the role of the observer in shaping reality. Claude can make mistakes. Please double-check responses."
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How to get into Claude:
Recent email release:
"Hello, We’re excited to share that tool use, which enables the Claude 3 model family to interact with external tools, is now available in beta to all customers in the Anthropic Messages API. Tool use, or function calling, is a frontier AI capability that allows Claude to reason, plan and execute a set of actions by generating structured outputs via API calls. In this beta, we’ll continue to focus on client-side tools and have introduced a new API format for tool definitions and calls, enhancing reliability and simplicity for developers. With tool use, Claude can agentically:
Claude 3 models are designed to work well with tools. Every Claude 3 model can maintain >90% accuracy even when working with hundreds of simple tools. In addition, Claude 3 Opus is able to provide >90% accuracy for incomplete or ambiguous queries, making it even easier to get accurate and useful responses from Claude. Start building today: You can start building with tool use on Claude 3 models today in our Messages API. Tool use will be available in Bedrock and Vertex in the near future. Build service agents that can retrieve purchase history and assist with reorders. Chain a series of API calls to extract internal and external insights, and turn it into an executive report. Create personal assistants that can read emails and schedule meetings. Want to learn more? Here are a few resources to help you get inspired:
If you have any product feedback, please submit your feedback using this form. Warmly, The Anthropic team"