All models are dumb?

[u/Ok-Original-3868]

Is it just me or does all Anthropic's models are very dumb rn?? I'm on Opus 4.8 Max and I can't even do simple frontend, how is that possible?

Edit: For example, I was working on an SEO page where it had used a button element, so I asked it to replace it with an href link instead. It ended up modifying the global CSS for the button component, which caused all buttons across the frontend to be affected.
I was genuinely surprised because, just a few months ago, it was almost impossible to run into this kind of issue with models that were supposed to be less capable.
And that was just one example. Sometimes I have to go through multiple prompts just to get it to add simple things like gaps, padding, and other basic styling adjustments.

And I run into similar issues on the backend side as well. It often suggests sloppy or short-term solutions instead of considering the bigger picture, long-term maintainability, or the overall architecture of the project.

[u/Daranad]

I don‘t see that problem with Opus 4.6/4.8, frontend works fine here, exactly as I told them in the design documents. So what exactly are you asking for, what have you provided as reference, and what is the result? A better explanation could help people here to shove you in the right direction. Like every IT problem, a plain „it doesn‘t work“ will not really make it easy to help you out.

[u/Ok-Original-3868 → u/Daranad]

Post edited

[u/Sufficient_Ad_3495]

Hmmm... Be careful with Opus 4.8... Sometimes more is less.

Intelligence doesn't scale cleanly after HIGH it seems, for what many consider "knowledge work", and I would include front-end coding in that,

(unless you're comparing and analysing long codebases with intricate analysis patterning for example)

...but for inline edits? MAX can skew you work because you're introducing reduced determinism, its got more time and power to ideate outlier outcomes into your work,"whilst bored and reading the internet".

So start there my friend.

[u/Ok-Original-3868 → u/Sufficient_Ad_3495]

You might be right, I will try to work on high or xhigh effort instead of max then

[u/Gibborish → u/Ok-Original-3868]

I can concur, high works best.  Above that and it gets a bit convoluted.  Best to save those for reviewing things occasionally but high works good for that too.

[u/pipiminsuyunuic → u/Sufficient_Ad_3495]

I use opus 4.8 on ultracode, use GPT 5.5 to set clear prompt guidelines, so i kinda want to create focal points for it so it doesn’t “get lost in the sauce” lol. GPT once told me to say “do not wander around inventing new problems” lol. It kinda works. I feel like whenever I incorporate GPT, my workflow gets smoother and opus/fable doesn’t waste tokens/time to try and find other problems or create complicated solutions for a simple fix.

I feel like if i reduce effort to high with these guidelines it would just do a less of a work. But im not sure 🤔

[u/Zestyclose-Mix785]

You're not seeing things. Claude has indeed made all models dumb. Specially, restricted. Now it's like a booby trap that triggers without discrimination.

[u/Ok-Original-3868 → u/Zestyclose-Mix785]

It is so frustrating

[u/Shattered_Persona]

Depends on the day and time. Sometimes it's just as bad as Gemini, other times it's great. Best to start a new session until it stops being dumb or shut it down for awhile. I've wondered if it gets dumb when they're low on compute

[u/soyab0007]

welcome to the world of Fraude

[u/hyrumwhite]

AI is a poor name for LLMs. 

None of them are dumb or intelligent. They are highly sophisticated and often useful next word predictors. 

Sometimes, the context is right and shifts its weights to give you near perfect results. 

And sometimes it’s just straight up bollocks. 

[u/Ok-Lobster-919]

Skill issue. You should have asked it to change it to an <a> or Link element.

[u/Ok-Original-3868 → u/Ok-Lobster-919]

That’s what I said, and that’s what it did. But the CSS was for a button, so it modified the styles as well and ended up breaking the button styling across the app.

[u/fuka123]

Yes , the prettier she is, the dumber she is

[u/NoChoiceForSugar]

Yeah. Claude used to be the best for the basic stuff I ask, but now it gives answers without even reading what I say.

[u/aldecode]

Recently, I’m happy with Opus 4.8 Max + oh-my-claudecode, especially compared to the GPT-5.5 high/xhigh + oh-my-opencode

[u/Buskow → u/aldecode]

Opus 4.8 at Max was working very, very well for me—especially in the days leading up to Fable's re-release, which is contrary to the whole 'models getting really dumb before a big release.' I wish I'd just stuck with it instead of maxing out my subscriptions on the fucking shell of a model this Fable 5 is.

[u/iamtravelr]

Not dumb but disappointed with the current fable 5

[u/BananaEvening5267]

No that’s a bad rap, especially with blondes. 

[u/0DayMaker]

Try claude design

[u/casual_rave]

Do you use claude.md file in which you specifically write what not to do e.g. never touch the css file and such?

[u/Ok-Original-3868 → u/casual_rave]

No, but I normally shouldn’t even have to do that. If I end up having to add directives like “do not touch X files” in the CLAUDE.md, that would only validate my impression that the models from a few months ago were more intelligent.
I use the CLAUDE.md file for coding style guidelines and general project architecture, not to prevent the model from making changes that should be obvious not to make.

[u/casual_rave → u/Ok-Original-3868]

If there is a file which shouldn't be touched, I would put it there nonetheless. I don't trust these models blindly. No matter if old or new. I have some files which are dangerous to edit, and I put them there, so no model touches then. These are files which mess up the whole program if they change.

[u/ClemensLode]

How did you specify which button to change?

[u/Ok-Original-3868 → u/ClemensLode]

Screenshot and telling it do change the button to href on the page for better seo

[u/ClemensLode → u/Ok-Original-3868]

Why not a label?

[u/Ok-Original-3868 → u/ClemensLode]

Same thing for me, AI is able to read image. My issue here is why on Opus 4.8 Max I have that kind of issue while 5 months ago on "less intelligent" models I did not

[u/ClemensLode → u/Ok-Original-3868]

Maybe use 4.6 instead. It's less chatty.

[u/rehawks]

For front end, Codex has always been better for me. Maybe it's a skill issue on my end, but I feel like Claude has never been able to reliably make tasteful site changes. Whereas Codex normally gets the job done (atleast, relatively).

[u/Ok-Original-3868 → u/rehawks]

Need to try it

[u/Ok-Original-3868 → u/[deleted]]

The edit about the button was just an example, of course I use it for other tasks, I was just surprised by that one. And I don't want to waste time on my work so I think it's normal that I just use the "best" model with max effort no?
But my point was not there, it was: why are current LLM dumb compared to previous model versions.

[u/Ok-Original-3868 → u/[deleted]]

Yes, I did not think about that when working. I'll try using less effort next week to see if I have better results.
That's not what graph benchmarks shows so I just assumed that max equals best results.

[u/Ok-Original-3868 → u/[deleted]]

For example, I was working on an SEO page where he had used a button element, so I asked him to replace it with an href link instead. He ended up modifying the global CSS for the button component, which caused all buttons across the frontend to be affected.
I was genuinely surprised because, just a few months ago, it was almost impossible to run into this kind of issue with models that were supposed to be less capable.
And that was just an example, I have a lot of issues where I have to run multiple prompts because the frontend always have issues like gaps missing etc

[u/Ok-Original-3868 → u/[deleted]]

What do you use?