The Imagined Barrier of Switching from ChatGPT to Claude
Switching AI tools felt harder than it was. It turns out, your AI doesn't know you as well as you think it does. · Read more →
Changing my primary AI tool felt like a drag on my productivity but over the last week, I found it easier to switch between AI tools than you would think. I was hung up on making a switch because it just felt like more work than necessary. It turns out, your preferred AI tool doesn’t really know you as well as you think. It’s inferring a lot, and what it does know is portable.
Due to the nature of my work, I’m connected to many different organizations at the same time. Right now, I probably have access to about 5 different environments alongside the tools and systems they use. Because I’m embedded with other teams, it really gives me a good perspective on what’s working, what doesn’t, and how systems are actually used day to day.
Those are my client’s systems though and I only use them for client specific work. For my company, I have my own subscriptions to the tools I use for the business. As I’ve launched Valdivya this year, I picked out the right tools for the job and, as things continue to evolve, I test out other tools. I keep what works for me as my primary AI. Until now, that has been OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Over the last few months, it’s been harder and harder to ignore Anthropic’s momentum with Claude.
From a coding, personal AI, coworker tooling, and responsible AI development perspective, the inertia is on their side. I’ve had it on my list to make the switch for months now but it felt harder than necessary given the history I thought was embedded in my ChatGPT conversations.
Anthropic even provided a way to migrate that would work across any tools. They couldn’t have made this easier. But I’m not immune to the human feeling that it would be annoying and just create more work. This was something for everyone else. I am too busy.
It turns out this wasn’t that challenging to migrate.
I ran the memory export and was up and running on Claude in minutes. I was surprised by how little actually exported when I thought about our interactions and what it seemed to know about me. When ChatGPT responds with little reminders of how it “fits my brand” or “this insight aligns with your calm leadership approach”, I really thought it had some deeper memories about me. Immediately while working with Claude, it started using similar language with me. In hindsight, this feels obvious and deep down I knew this was true but it still popped the bubble for how insightful the tools actually are about who you are.
After that, I just started using Claude the same way I was using ChatGPT. After a few days, I’d gotten used to any differences and just kept going. The friction of change wasn’t that significant.
It’s really made me reflect on previous experiences. I’ve been here multiple times in my career. I have decades of experience as a Jira user and administrator. However, I’ve used many other project management tools. I can run a project in any of these tools because, at the end of the day, it’s just an organizational tool. It is sticky notes on a wall. The real work is in the communication, team leadership, and stakeholder management.
It’s the same for AI tools.
They have their differences and you’ll have your preferences. With the constant change of AI capabilities and available tools, it’s important to stay nimble. Getting too focused on a platform isn’t the best approach while things continue to change. It’s true in my work across organizations but it applies to everyone. A platform agnostic approach is best right now.
After breaking through this imaginary barrier, I’m sure I’ll be cycling through other AI tools to keep my knowledge and skills in a place to better serve my clients. I’m keeping a watchful eye on Google’s Gemini in the months ahead as they integrate their services deeper into Apple products. As an Apple fanboy, it will be hard to resist the integration and it is a reason I have stuck with ChatGPT over the last year. I have a Microsoft 365 Copilot subscription as part of my email, calendar and office tools subscription. I'm sure I'll end up back on ChatGPT at some point too.
The only way to fully understand these tools is to integrate them into your workflow.
In my case, if I just play with the tools without actually working in them, I won’t dive in enough to understand how they work.
Your takeaways on the cost of switching AI tools
- Don’t get hung up on one AI tool right now. Experimentation and willingness to change is key right now.
- Switching isn’t going to hurt your workflow. You may feel your AI knows you, but it doesn’t. It keys off some relevant signals that can easily follow you.
If any of this resonates with you right now and you need help breaking out of your imaginary barriers with your tools and systems, I would love to be part of that conversation. It takes outside perspective to accelerate change and I’ve worked across countless industries to help teams navigating rapid change. Reach out and let’s have a no pressure conversation on where you want to go this year.