Claude vs Kevin

I saw Woolworths (one of Australia's biggest supermarkets) announce that its AI assistant, Olive, is becoming more agentic.

That might not sound particularly exciting, but it's actually a pretty big shift. We're moving beyond AI that simply answers questions and towards AI that understands enough context to start doing things for you instead.

When I thought about how this could fit into my Family OS, I realised Woolworths will only ever know part of my life.

The value I feel from my Family OS is that a) it's literally my second brain and b) it sees my entire life. I designed it to remove the mental load and that's what it does.

Woolworths will know what I typically buy and when (apart from my chicken schnitzels, I get them from IGA - they're amazing BTW). They'll know I have children. This is all helpful context for an agent.

But they won't know Ben (my husband) is in New Zealand next week for work. They won't know that I'm working from home on Tuesday and have 15 spare minutes over lunch. They definitely won't know that if the week completely falls apart we end up at Sushi Train after school pick-up.

That's the bit that takes up my brainspace and makes my meal planner useful to me, because I never have a standard week.

Anyway, this week I had a bit of an unlock with my meal planner that I wanted to share.

Kevin. I've named my new slow cooker Kevin. We also have a robot vacuum called Derek, who I also love.

Anyway, I was ridiculously excited bringing Kevin home, clearly convinced he was going to change my life. Ben (ex-chef husband) thinks I'm being wildly over-excited because "it's just an oven." He's wrong.

Yes, Kevin, in theory, is “just an oven”… BUT Kevin + Claude is a bloody match made in heaven for my inner peace.

At first, I thought we'd just be eating a lot more beef stew. Which, to be fair, we are. But given Claude already knows quite a lot about our life, the change has been semi-life-changing.

Claude knows when Ben is away, when I'm in the office, when the kids have activities, and roughly where I've got pockets of time during the day.

Kevin allows for those food prep pockets to not be at 5pm, when I'm dealing with the (daily) fight over bath time, trying to find Hadley's favourite pyjamas (which are always in the wash) and trying to stop someone crying (sometimes me).

So now Claude can look into my future and, rather than "plan seven dinners," it sees Ben being away next week and knows I need some extra propping up, and specifically that 5pm ian’t a great cooking window (even more so than normal!).

Claude spotted gaps where I could get ahead, both in a 'normal'-ish week and in preparation for next week's solo stint.

It even suggested I just go to Sushi Train on the busiest night for a break (Claude will always have my heart).

They're doing completely different jobs. One is Context, and one is Memory, and these concepts are important to understand if you're building a workflow or a system. I added:

"Do you still have three servings of bolognese in the freezer?" (context)

"Anything you'd change about last week's meals?" (memory)

The first is storing something I'd want the system to remember (like adding bacon to the bolognese next time, or retiring the recipe nobody really ate).

The second doesn't need remembering at all beyond the 'Context Window' (the chat you're currently in). If there are already three portions of bolognese in the freezer, that changes what next week's meal plan should look like. Once the plan's built, it can forget again (read: save future AI credits).

So this week, take a look at your week and work out the worst possible time - the bit with the most juggling. Think about adding a couple of things that help you in those moments. It's amazing what a small win does at those times.

Sarah x

P.S. Kevin and Derek are both wonderful, but Claude is still my favourite. Unlike the kids, where I don't have favourites... consistently, anyway.