**This Awesome Raspberry Pi Project Turns a Typewriter into a Prompting Machine**

There's something about retro projects and Raspberry Pis that just goes hand-in-hand with one another. One of the more prevalent use-cases I've seen involves turning the Single-Board Computer (SBC) into a retro gaming console, as it's small enough to fit in a tiny case yet powerful enough to emulate the classics.

However, what if you could use a Raspberry Pi to imagine what an LLM (Large Language Model) might have looked like before computers were a thing? Where, instead of typing your prompts onto a screen, you tapped them onto a typewriter and then watched as it wrote out your answer by itself? Well, you need not imagine anymore, as someone has brought this idea to life using a Raspberry Pi, a typewriter, and Claude – the AI-powered chatbot developed by Meta.

Meet Ben James, aka bengineer19, who posted a GIF of their Raspberry Pi-powered Claude typewriter on the official Raspberry Pi subreddit. The project is a beautiful blend of old-school typing and cutting-edge AI technology. To get the conversation started, all you need to do is type in your prompt and hand it over to Claude. Once done, you can sit back and watch as the typewriter "magically" replies to your response.

Just imagine taking this setup back in time a few decades – it's like something straight out of a vintage cyberpunk movie! You could really blow some minds if you brought this retro-futuristic device into a bygone era. And, as an added bonus, Ben has documented the entire process on his website, Ben By Fax.

**How It Was Done**

The project was primarily a hardware hack, which allowed Ben to electronically simulate phantom keypresses and enable Claude to type by itself. To achieve this, he had to intercept the keyboard signals and re-route them to be processed by an Arduino board. The typewriter keys were wired in a matrix, so when a key is pressed, it connects a row to a column. By scanning the entire keyboard for keypresses and sending back "phantom typing" at will, Ben was able to create this mesmerizing effect.

It's a very cool project, and we hope that Ben publishes more information on how he made this possible so that we can all make it for ourselves. And, as an added bonus, if you're ever in London, you can give Ben a prod and he'll let you have a go – sounds like a delightful way to spend an afternoon!

**Get Inspired with These Raspberry Pi Projects for Beginners**

If this project has got you inspired to make your own SBC project but making a full phantom typing typewriter is a bit out of your scope, don't worry! We've got some great resources for beginners that will help you cut your teeth and get started with Raspberry Pi projects. From retro gaming consoles to home automation systems, there's something for everyone – so go ahead and start building!