Claude Cowork is an AI assistant designed to do the work with you, not just talk about it. Instead of a chat where you ask questions and get text back, you give Claude access to a specific folder on your computer and describe the outcome you want. It then plans steps and carries them out directly on the files.

Imagine dropping a messy pile of screenshots, notes, and PDFs onto a desk and telling a colleague: “Turn this into a report and organize everything.” Claude Cowork behaves similarly. It can rename and sort files, extract information into spreadsheets, combine scattered notes into documents, and keep working until the task is finished.

The key idea is autonomy. Traditional AI chat tools operate message-by-message. Claude Cowork works toward an outcome over time. It creates a plan, executes multiple steps, and updates you along the way, which makes it closer to a digital teammate than a chatbot.

You can think of it as the shift from asking a librarian for directions to handing them a stack of research and saying, “Prepare the binder for me.” Claude Cowork represents the early wave of agent-style AI systems designed to handle everyday computer tasks on your behalf.