How to Use Claude to Summarize Long Articles
Do you ever find an interesting article online only to realize it's so long it would take all afternoon to read? It can be overwhelming to sift through pages of text just to find the one or two facts you actually need.
Claude is the perfect "digital friend" to help you get the "gist" of any long document without the headache. It’s like having a personal assistant who reads the newspaper first and circles the most important parts for you.
Imagine you receive a long, complex update from your homeowner's association about new roofing rules. Instead of reading all 15 pages of legal language, you can ask Claude to "Tell me the 3 most important things I need to know about my roof." In seconds, you have your answer.
Step 1: Find and Copy Your Text Before Claude can help, you need to show it what you're looking at. This is just like clipping a recipe out of a magazine to show a friend.
Go to the article or document you want to summarize. Use your mouse to highlight the text, right-click, and select "Copy." This saves the information into your computer's "short-term memory" so you can move it over to Claude's chat box.
Step 2: Open Claude and Paste the Text Now it's time to bring that information to your digital companion. Think of this as laying the document down on the kitchen table so you can look at it together.
Open your browser and go to Claude.ai. Look for the message box at the bottom that says "Star a new chat." Right-click inside that box and select "Paste" to drop your text in. You’ll see the words appear right there, ready for Claude to read.
Step 3: Give Your "Recipe" Instructions In our book, AI for Boomers, we call your instructions a "recipe." The clearer your recipe, the better the result will be.
At the end of the text you pasted, type a simple request like, "Please summarize this in 5 bullet points for me." Press the enter key or click the little arrow button. Within about 30 seconds, Claude will provide a clear, easy-to-read summary that covers the main points.
Step 4: Ask Follow-Up Questions The best part about Claude is that it's a conversation, not a one-way street. If the summary mentions something interesting, you can ask for more details.
Simply type a question like, "Can you tell me more about the part where it mentions the warranty?" Claude will go back through the text and find exactly what you're looking for. It never gets tired of questions, so feel free to keep asking until you feel completely comfortable with the information.
Don't worry about "breaking" anything—you're just having a chat. You've got this!
Try this today with a news article you've been meaning to read but haven't had the time for.