Industry observers note that what’s the “Swing” button for? How does the “Timer” button work? And I couldn’t make sense of the icons on the remote control. Our fresh air conditioner had just arrived, a necessity for a sure-to-be-sizzling Recent York summer, and already I was scratching my head.
The report highlights that most of the user guide was devoted to installing the in-window unit, a job already completed by our friendly A/C delivery team. The slim operating instructions offered only brief descriptions of each button, such as noting that the Quiet button “turns on/off the QUIET mode.” Gee, thanks! I flipped through the manual for help, but it was anything but helpful.
In a fresh development, obviously, AI is a natural for a case like this, and it’s a no-brainer to snap a photo of the unit, upload it to ChatGPT, and ask, “What does the Quiet button do?”.
As part of the ongoing story, the more I thought about it, the more this seemed like a job for Claude, specifically its Cowork capability, which lets it run projects directly on your PC. But I wanted an actual manual to go along with my fresh air conditioner, one that I could stick in our junk drawer for easy reference.
The report highlights that i was loathe to set it loose on my personal files, so I’ve mainly relegated myself to Cowork performing scheduled web searches and spitting out daily summaries of its findings. I’d long struggled to come up with good ideas for what Claude Cowork could do.
Industry observers note that i figured I’d create a fresh desktop folder, drop in a PDF of the generic user manual that came in the box, and add a snapshot of the label on the side of the unit with the specific model number. But creating a user manual for my fresh A/C unit seemed like a good challenge.
Industry observers note that i did all that, fired up Claude Cowork (just click the “Cowork” tab on the Claude desktop app), pointed it at my fresh “AC Manual” directory, and gave it a prompt (not my best effort, I’ll grant you):.
The report highlights that in the project directory is a snapshot of the specific model number on the side of the unit. I also included a PDF manual for the overall A/C series. The included manual is not very helpful. Can you devise a friendly, comprehensive how-to-use guide, complete with visuals, about basic functions and functionality, including tips and tricks? We just got a fresh air conditioner.
Industry observers note that that’s a lot of AI firepower for a job like this, but my weekly Claude usage allowance was about to reset and I still had plenty of gas in the tank. (I’m on the Claude Pro plan, which costs $20 a month, and a paid Claude plan is required to use Claude Cowork.). For the particular Claude model, I went with Opus 4.8, the most powerful of the publicly available Claude versions (at least until the mysterious Claude Mythos arrives).
Industry observers note that i clicked the submit button, and Claude asked me a few questions before starting:.
In a fresh development, did I want installation instructions, operating procedures, or both?
Industry observers note that would this manual be just for my family or for renters and other users?
In a fresh development, and what format did I want the manual in?
As part of the ongoing story, i see a service manual PDF and a photo. Let me look at both.”). I chose “Just operation,” “Only my family,” and “PDF,” and then Claude went to work (“I’ll start by looking at what’s in your project folder — the photo of the model number and the PDF manual.
The report highlights that it then started building the manual itself (“Let me mark research done and read the PDF skill to build a polished, visual guide… I’ll build this as a richly-illustrated HTML document with custom SVG diagrams, then render to PDF”). Claude began by scouring the manual and running a few quick web searches.
In a fresh development, the finished product is both gorgeous and informative: 12 pages long, with a slick gradient-blue cover and a 60-second quick-start guide. It also includes details on the four cooling modes, a primer on the Quiet, Sleep, and Timer functions (thank you!), plus money-saving tips and maintenance routines. All told, it took Claude about 10 minutes to complete the manual.
Industry observers note that claude even noted where it was unsure of some details and explained how it handled the uncertainties:. I carefully checked over Claude’s instructions and tips, and as far as I can tell, they’re accurate.
Industry observers note that a couple of small things I deliberately framed gently rather than invented: I pointed to friedrich.com/support for warranty/registration rather than printing a phone number, and I described filter/vent locations generically since exact placement varies — if you tell me where yours sit, I can make those steps more specific.
The report highlights that once that was done, the buttons in Claude’s user manual were all in the right places. This is when I realized I’d failed to take snapshots of the front control panel and the remote itself; I added those photos to the project folder and asked Claude to revise the manual with proper button layouts, with the edits taking roughly five more minutes.
According to the latest update, it produced a friendly, informative, and — crucially — accurate guide that should come in pretty handy. My Claude A/C manual project took about half an hour and used a little less than half my five-hour Claude usage allowance.
As part of the ongoing story, chatGPT users could do the same thing. I’d recommend using OpenAI’s Codex application, which can build PDFs and apps. Gemini users could give it a whirl too with the standalone Antigravity application. You could, of course, run through this process with any product, not just with Claude.
As part of the ongoing story, his coverage of artificial intelligence interrogates the most recent LLMs, and how they can be used at work and at home to be best prepared for the AI revolution. “AI is going to change our lives sooner than we think,” Ben writes. “Our best way to adapt is by using it every day.” Ben has been a PCWorld author since 2014, and has covered everything from laptops to security cameras before launching PCWorld’s AI beat. Ben's articles have also appeared in PC Magazine, TIME, Wired, CNET, Men's Fitness, Mobile Magazine, and more. Ben holds a master's degree in English literature. Ben has been writing about consumer technology for more than 20 years, and now focuses his reporting on AI as it relates to the basic human experience.