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- 🧠Claude gets new skills
🧠Claude gets new skills
PLUS: How to turn simple text prompts into fully functional AI-powered workflows in minutes
Alvaro Cintas
October 17, 2025
Good morning, AI enthusiast. Anthropic is giving Claude new “Skills” to make it smarter and more useful at work.
In today’s AI newsletter:
Anthropic adds Skills to Claude
Copilot Takes Over Windows
Pew Research shows global anxiety rising over AI adoption
How to turn simple text prompts into fully functional AI-powered workflows
AI tools & more
AI NEWS
Anthropic announced Skills for Claude, a feature made of folders with instructions, scripts, and resources. Claude can load these Skills on-demand to handle specific tasks, from Excel work to following company brand guidelines.
→ Reduces time spent writing perfect prompts or recalling past context
→ Makes Claude smarter in your specific work environment
→ Available to Pro, Max, Team, and Enterprise users
→ Example: Claude created a well-formatted presentation on Haiku 4.5 market performance using its PowerPoint Skill
Why is important: Skills turn Claude from a generic AI assistant into a work-focused agent, tailored to your company or personal workflow. With this, organizations can teach Claude to do exactly what they need, improving productivity without extra effort.
AI UPDATES
Microsoft announced it will begin testing Copilot Actions, a new AI feature that can perform tasks on local files directly in Windows 11, like resizing photos or organizing music playlists, without requiring cloud processing.
→ Available first to Windows Insider and Copilot Labs users
→ Works with desktop and web apps to complete real-world tasks
→ Users can watch Copilot work step-by-step and take over anytime
→ Initially limited to folders like Desktop, Documents, Downloads, and Pictures
Why is important: Microsoft is betting on AI-native PCs as the next computing revolution. By bringing Copilot Actions directly into Windows, the company aims to make your computer a true hands-free digital assistant, capable of performing complex workflows.
AI RESEARCH
A new Pew Research survey of 28,000 adults across 25 countries found that nervousness about AI now outweighs optimism in much of the world.
→ 50% of respondents in the U.S., Italy, Australia, and Greece say they feel anxious about rising AI use
→ Israel, South Korea, and Sweden lead the world in AI optimism
→ The EU ranks as the most trusted regulatory body (53% confidence), ahead of the U.S. (37%) and China (27%)
Why is important: While AI adoption accelerates, public perception remains divided. Younger generations see opportunity, but older demographics see risk, a gap that could shape how governments and companies communicate about AI in the coming years.
HOW TO AI
đź’» How to Turn Simple Text Prompts Into Fully Functional AI-Powered Workflows
In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to build powerful no-code AI automations and mini-apps using Google Opal, a new free tool that replaces traditional workflow builders like n8n.
🧰 Who is This For
Founders and creators automating daily workflows
Developers testing quick prototypes
Marketing and growth teams building internal tools
Analysts creating AI-powered dashboards or reports
STEP 1: Access Opal
Go to the Opal and sign in with your Google account.
Once you’re logged in, you’ll land on the Opal home dashboard, featuring a clean layout with a central canvas and a prompt box at the bottom.
At the bottom of your screen, you’ll find a text field labeled “Describe what you want to build.”
This is where you’ll describe your idea in natural language.
STEP 2: Describe Your App Idea
Click on the text field and type your idea in plain English.
For example: "I want to build a stock researching app. I want to be able to enter in a company, then the AI does research on the company, shows me their stock price and other financial information, and gives me an investors research report"
Once done, click Generate.
Within seconds, Opal will automatically create your app and display a visual workflow showing how each step connects.
STEP 3: Explore the Workflow and Preview
After generation, the interface will split into two parts:
Right side: Live preview of your app (what users will see)
Center: Visual workflow canvas (how your app operates)
Each workflow block is color-coded:
Yellow represents inputs (user-provided data)
Purple represents AI logic (Gemini or model processing)
Green represents outputs (the final results)
Click any block to modify it. You can change prompts, switch models, or adjust how data flows between steps.
STEP 4: Test and Share Your App
In the preview panel, enter sample inputs to test your app.
If everything works, click the Share button in the top-right corner.
Opal will generate a public link that anyone can use with their own Google account, no hosting or setup required.
You can also browse the template gallery for ready-made workflows to remix and customize for your own needs.
ESSENTIAL BITES
Meta is set to seal an almost $30B financing package for its Louisiana data center; Meta will retain 20% ownership in the Hyperion data center site.
Kayak launches a ChatGPT-powered chatbot on its desktop and mobile website that lets users ask travel questions and compare flights, hotels, and car rentals.
OpenAI hires black hole theoretical physicist Alex Lupsasca, the first person to join the OpenAI for Science initiative led by Kevin Weil, to shape its research.
OpenAI has proposed a “sign in with ChatGPT” feature to some companies, which could then transfer the cost of using OpenAI's models to their customers.
HOT AI TOOLS
🖼️ MAI-Image-1: Microsoft’s first in-house text-to-image model
💨 Claude 4.5 Haiku: Anthropic’s new fast and affordable AI model
THAT’S IT FOR TODAY
Thanks for making it to the end! I put my heart into every email I send, I hope you are enjoying it. Let me know your thoughts so I can make the next one even better!
See you tomorrow :)
- Dr. Alvaro Cintas
