The most interesting thing about AI is it’s potential. I agree it is amazing and a bit astounding. Since I have been working with Claude I have had more than my share of satori moments, that made me stop and reconsider what AI could do.

I tried the Drupal AI module out to determine if it would extend my potential when developing Drupal modules and themes.

Short answer is no, but it’s still really cool.

I discovered that the AI module for Drupal is not a snap-in for Claude Code, at least not when I tested it. That being said, it has enormous potential for Drupal Admins and Drupal Site Builders.

This module enables your Drupal website to be connected to an AI service provider. The module has support for many providers, including Anthropic based Claude. Once you connect it, AI can perform a miryad of operations to your site if you tell it to. Also, it offers enhancements for the user experience, like AI assistance in CKEditor for authoring content an an AI integration for performing searches of content Drupal knows about.

I started down this path because I wanted a voice interface for Claude Code. Currently Claude does not have the ability to respond to voice commands. Claude can read a list of instructions or a descriptive paragraph from a text file written in normal language. My ideal would be to speak voice commands to Claude. If it worked accurately, it would be a whole new paradigm of efficiency for me, not to mention a boon for disabled individuals.

I’m using Ubuntu 22.04 for development, which does not really have an easy to deploy and use speech-to-text suite of programs yet, but there is functionality that can be chained together to produce the desired result. If it did, I would be able to dictate text files for Claude to read, and presumably get Claude’s output in audio format from a file they could generate.

What the AI module brings to the forum is the ability to automate tasks in an already constructed Drupal installation. The Drupal end-user can enjoy the enhanced editing experience that AI can provide. For Drupal Backend Developers, the module provides 6 new programming interfaces that allow programmers to leverage and extend the code. This means that Drupal developers can now develop their own custom modules to leverage the power of AI without having to develop a way to connect to a provider every time. Very helpful.

The module is under constant development and like any codebase it may contain a bug or two. I found a few issues from a UX perspective and I’ll probably scan the module issue queue to see if someone else noticed the issues I did. When I worked with it it functioned well without a lot of issues in a vanilla development environment running Drupal 10.04.

I found an excellent breakdown of the differences between ChatGPT and Claude here:
https://www.descope.com/blog/post/claude-vs-chatgpt

The AI module for Drupal is a valuable add-on for a Drupal website. I’m excited to see the future enhancements and improvements that its developers will work on next.

I asked Claude what they thought about it. Here is their breakdown:

● Based on my analysis, you have installed the AI module (version 1.1.3) for Drupal with the following enabled sub-modules:

  Currently Enabled AI Sub-modules:

  1. AI Core (ai)

  - Purpose: Provides the foundational abstraction layer for AI services
  - Functionality:
    - Unified framework for integrating various AI models and services
    - Requires the Key module for secure API key storage
    - Provides configuration interface at /admin/config/ai
    - Base infrastructure for other AI modules to build upon

  2. AI Logging (ai_logging)

  - Purpose: Development and debugging tool for AI interactions
  - Functionality:
    - Captures all prompts sent to AI services
    - Stores AI responses and outputs as entities
    - Provides contextual information for debugging
    - Includes Views integration for reviewing logged data
    - Note: Recommended primarily for development environments due to high database storage usage

  Additional Available Sub-modules (Currently Disabled):

  The installation includes 15+ additional AI sub-modules that can be enabled as needed:
  - AI Tools: Chatbot, Content Suggestions, CKEditor integration, Assistant API
  - AI Providers: OpenAI, Mistral, Anthropic, Groq, HuggingFace, Ollama, LM Studio
  - AI Features: Search, Translation, Validation, External Moderation, Automators, ECA integration
  - Development: API Explorer for testing AI services

  The framework is designed to work with any AI provider once configured with appropriate API keys through the Key module.

> Thank you Claude, I appreciate it.

● You're welcome! The AI module provides a solid foundation for integrating AI services into your Drupal site. Feel free to ask if you need help configuring any of the additional sub-modules or setting up AI providers.

I could not have said it better myself.
Do throw this onto your list of “must install” modules for Drupal. It’s a valuable tool.