This interview with the co-founder / CEO of Anthropic is from awhile ago but is as relevant as ever.
Especially the second half with Amanda Askell - she might be the person who's talked to Claude more than literally anyone else on Earth.
Background is that Amanda's not your typical AI researcher. She comes from philosophy and ethics, but now she's basically Claude's... personality architect?
She spends her days figuring out how to make AI interactions feel natural and genuinely helpful instead of just technically correct.
Some fascinating bits that jumped out -
1. She talks about how Claude isn't supposed to just agree with everything (like most AI does). They actively train it to push back when appropriate - but without being a jerk about it. It's like teaching an AI social skills, which is wild.
2. There's this whole thing about "context architecture" (her term) - how giving AI the right background is WAY more important than the actual prompt. Made me think differently about all my prompting work.
3. The way she describes working with AI reminded me so much of copywriting actually - she talks about how it's all about understanding human psychology, clear communication, and finding that perfect balance between being helpful and being honest.
But honestly what got me most excited was the implications for creative professionals. Right now everyone's obsessing over the technical side of AI, but Amanda's work shows there's this massive opportunity for people who understand:
- Human psychology
- Clear communication
- Nuanced language
- Strategic thinking
Sound familiar? That's literally what we do all day as copywriters and marketers.
This isn't just theory either. At one point Anthropic was paying senior prompt engineers up to ~$405k/yr.
Not saying we all need to go work at AI labs, but it shows how valuable this skill set is becoming.
Want a concrete example? When Amanda talked about studying how Claude handles "not right now" responses from potential customers... that's straight-up conversion psychology.
Be the one who can “teach” AI models to understand and respond to human decision-making patterns, and you’ll be well-paid 4eva
P.S. Enjoy reading these emails? Forward to another marketer or copywriter or founder who thinks about AI. The best AI Copywriting Pro subscribers come in through word of mouth organically.