Last week we covered the big platform shifts. This week, the smaller but genuinely useful updates that save time in your day-to-day work
Claude now lets you choose how hard it thinks
Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.8 on 28 May, just 41 days after the previous version. The headline change for everyday users is effort control – five settings (Low, Medium, High, Extra and Max) that let you decide how deeply Claude thinks before responding.
Low is faster and better for quick tasks like email drafts. High and Max are for complex analysis, detailed comparisons or anything where accuracy matters more than speed.
The model is also around four times less likely than its predecessor to let errors pass without flagging them. And when it’s uncertain, it now says so rather than confidently presenting thin evidence.
Standard pricing is unchanged and the new Fast mode is three times cheaper than before.
ChatGPT’s default model got cleaner
OpenAI updated GPT-5.5 Instant (the model most people use by default) to give clearer, more natural answers.
Responses are less long-winded and less bullet-heavy, with writing and coding appearing in dedicated blocks directly in the chat.
For EAs using ChatGPT for drafting, fewer hallucinations and tighter answers mean less editing time and lower risk of publishing something inaccurate.
Google Gemini now briefs you on your day
Google’s latest Gemini update includes Daily Brief, a personalised digest of your day pulled from Gmail, Calendar and Tasks. Rather than opening three separate apps to piece together your morning, Gemini assembles the picture for you.
For EAs who start the day by scanning their exec’s schedule and inbox, this is worth watching – though several features including Daily Brief are currently US-first and limited to higher-priced tiers.
OneDrive will soon name your files for you
Microsoft’s Copilot Suggested Rename is rolling out to OneDrive in June 2026. The feature reads the content of your file and suggests three descriptive names with a single click. This covers Word documents, PowerPoint presentations, Excel files, PDFs and images.
It appears both in the rename dialog and as a prompt immediately after you upload a file. If your OneDrive is full of files called Document1 or FinalFINALv3, this one’s for you.
Google Drive’s scanner got a proper upgrade
Google Drive’s document scanner on Android has been redesigned to fix three common frustrations:
- Scanning one page at a time
- Blurry captures
- Accidentally scanning the same page twice.
Smart Batch Scanning lets you hover your phone over multiple documents and it identifies and separates them automatically. Auto-Best Frame replaces blurry images with the sharpest available capture, and Duplicate Detection skips pages you’ve already scanned.
Everything runs on-device with nothing sent to Google’s servers – useful for confidential documents. Requires Android with 8GB RAM minimum.