How Claude Code is surprisingly close to one definition of AGI

July 8, 2025

I've had a number of thoughts around Claude Code in the last couple of days. I've especially been trying to put into words a feeling of how big this is, and why I think so.

Here's what I've come up with:

1. Claude Code is as big a jump as ChatGPT was in 2022
2. ChatGPT was the ChatGPT for knowledge, and Claude Code is the ChatGPT for action
3. Claude Code is as good as it is because of scaffolding, not model IQ
4. I think Claude Code is proto-AGI, meaning it just needs more scaffolding, tools, and long-term memory and it'll be able to replace an average knowledge worker

I was having trouble putting this into words, and I think the above captures it.

Basically, it's as big as ChatGPT—but for action instead of knowledge.

AGI? Really? ​

I use the "AGI" word for a very specific reason: being able to replace human workers.

CC is already doing the work of a knowledge worker. And in fact way more and way better. But:

• It can only do so many tasks
• It only has so many tools
• Its memory is only so large
• It can't incorporate its entire career of knowledge into the next task
• Etc.

So it basically has tools and memory / knowledge management limitations. But, fundamentally, it's doing the work of someone in a corporate type job already.

This is huge to me, because to get to an actual AI product/service that can replace an employee I don't think requires some new, theoretical advance in AI.

What we have already just needs more wiring and plumbing. And I think Claude Code has made this very clear.