Should you run OpenClaw?

If you must ask this question, the answer is no.

OpenClaw is a super powerful way of giving AI access to your machine and messaging services. It can do things we all dreamt of seeing AI do. Think “Her” (highly recommend watching that movie now!). It can order groceries for you, build apps for your needs, but also answer phone calls and send messages to friends.

It’s so effective, because you can truly give it the keys to the kingdom - every single piece of your data and access. You don’t have to, and you can run it safely, but if you’re asking whether you should you’re likely not in the camp of having a deep interested in figuring out how to limit its powers.

It’s very new and it is getting an enormous amount of attention (and about $50mm in investment as of last night, I believe). That will most certainly go to making it easier and safer to run OpenClaw. Plus, it’s technically not a very complex thing, so there will be dozens of copycats.

Give it some time for the tech to mature and then try it on a computer where you don’t have personal credentials or data.

Or - if you’re like me - go through great lengths to run it on a machine that you carefully lock down and restrict. It’s a taste of the future.