Finding Your Perfect AI — Claude

“I heard Google Gemini is great lately? I use ChatGPT — so what's Claude anyway?”
Claude is known for its strength in coding and automation, and is often called “the most ethical AI.”
Sounds interesting, but getting started feels like a bit of a hassle, right?
Today, let's explore Claude — one of the smartest and most talked-about AIs out there — and learn how to use it.

3 Key Points Before You Start

• Claude comes in three flavors: lightweight Haiku, intelligent Sonnet, and deliberate Opus.

• It features “Extended Thinking” to control how deeply the AI reasons, and “Cowork” to handle multiple tasks simultaneously.

• Higher performance means slower responses and fewer usage credits — choosing the right model for your task matters.

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1. Why Use Claude?

Here are 3 key areas where Claude outperforms ChatGPT and Gemini.

① Constitutional AI — Predictable Reliability

Anthropic builds a “constitution” — a specific set of ethical rules — directly into Claude.
The 2026 version has even more detailed rules, making off-topic or harmful responses less likely.
This “predictability” is exactly why businesses prefer Claude.

② Coding — The Go-To AI for Developers

Claude excels at reading, writing, and fixing code.
With a dedicated tool called Claude Code, you can code alongside the AI — and even non-developers can use it for automation or building simple apps.

③ Cowork — AI That Handles Multiple Tasks at Once

Cowork, added in 2026, is Claude's unique differentiator.
You can assign multiple tasks simultaneously — like summarizing a document while searching for references at the same time.
This kind of “multitasking” is still difficult for ChatGPT or Gemini.
(A detailed guide to Cowork will be covered in a future class.)

2. Three Models — Which One Should You Use?

As of February 2026, here's how to choose between the three models.

① Haiku 4.5 — “Fast and Frugal”
The fastest responses with the most generous usage allowance per hour.
→ Email sorting, quick lookups, real-time translation

② Sonnet 4.6 — “The Smart All-Rounder” (★ Recommended)
Smarter than the previous generation's top model, and can process up to 1 million tokens.
→ Report writing, document summarization, most everyday tasks

③ Opus 4.6 — “The Deliberate CEO”
Thinks deeply through complex problems — but responses are slower and usage credits are more limited.
→ Strategy development, tackling challenging new coding projects

3. Plan Comparison (Free / Pro / Max — 2 tiers)

Here's a breakdown of the key differences between plans as of February 2026.

4. AI Can “Think” Too

“Extended Thinking” — a feature that lets you control how deeply the AI reasons.

• Off: Great for quick, everyday conversations.

• On: Use when accuracy matters — like solving math problems or reviewing important contracts.

When turned on, the AI goes through a process of verifying and revising its own answer. It takes longer, but the accuracy improves.

4. Real-World Use: Recommended Combos by Situation

Not sure where to start? Try these:

• ​💼 Report summarization → Sonnet 4.6 + Extended Thinking ON — reads and organizes long documents thoroughly

• ​📧 Email sorting → Haiku 4.5 — speed is everything; no need for a slower model

• ​🏗️ Business strategy → Opus 4.6 — when you need deep reasoning through complex variables

5. Getting Started with Claude

1. Go to claude.ai.

2. Sign up with your Google account or email.

3. You can start using it immediately on the Free plan.

4. The model selector in the top-left defaults to Sonnet — click “More models” to access others.

While Claude is highly capable, its free usage quota is considerably lower than ChatGPT or Gemini. Without a paid plan, it may be hard to fully experience what it can do.

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Today's Summary

1. Right now, give Claude one task from your to-do list — you'll learn more from doing than reading.

2. For important work, use Extended Thinking ON — but always verify the output yourself before acting on it.

3. Cowork is still unique to Claude — the next class will dive into practical ways to use it.