Mindless but mandatory tasks finally have a taker
Last week I spent 3 hours organizing a client spreadsheet, thinking this shouldn't be a human job. For those of us running solo businesses, there are too many repetitive operations every day—extracting info from emails, formatting documents, moving data from here to there. I previously tried getting AI to write code to automate this, but I couldn't understand the code and crashed while debugging. I also got stuck: I assumed these tools were only for programmers, gritted my teeth to learn them for a while, and finally realized I was heading in the wrong direction.
Two new changes: Codex does more than code, Claude supports creative software
Last week OpenAI updated Codex for Work—simply put, Codex can now do work for non-coders. Sam Altman's exact words were "try using it for non-coding computer work." It can now operate browsers, organize Office files, and integrate with office suites like Google and Feishu (Lark). My friend Ajie, at a cafe in Gongshu District, Hangzhou, used Codex last week to automatically compile scattered client info from Feishu into a spreadsheet, saving him a whole morning's work. On the other side, Claude added support for creative software—Canva, Blender, Adobe suite, Ableton, etc. If you do content or design, Claude can now directly operate steps within these software programs for you. Not everyone needs these tools, but if you have a lot of repetitive operations daily, they're worth a look.
Cost to replicate today
Money: Codex requires a ChatGPT Plus subscription at $20/month; Claude's creative features require a Pro subscription at $20/month. Time: First-time setup takes about 30 minutes, mostly authorizing your office accounts on the web. Technical barrier: No coding required, the whole process is just clicking buttons on the webpage. First step: Open chatgpt.com, log in, find the Codex entrance on the left, click in and follow the prompts to connect your Google or Microsoft account. I messed this up—at first I went to download the client, but the web version works fine, wasted half an hour for nothing.
Advice by stage
If you're just starting out and don't have stable clients yet: It's fine not to try it now, just use the free versions of ChatGPT or Claude for daily tasks, and consider it when repetitive operations really annoy you. If you have 1-2 clients: I'd suggest trying Codex to help organize client data and emails, spending the 1 hour saved each day on delivery. If you're scaling up with a team of 3-5 people: Codex's ability to integrate with office suites can help reduce a massive amount of mechanical internal coordination work, worth seriously spending half a day to configure.