Conversational interfaces are a bit of a meme. Every couple of years a shiny new AI development emerges and people in tech go “This is it! The next computing paradigm is here! We’ll only use natural language going forward!”. But then nothing actually changes and we continue using computers the way we always have, until the debate resurfaces a few years later.
Reminded me of this piece I wrote shortly after alexa "happened"
"New input devices don’t kill their predecessors, they stack on top of them. Voice won’t kill touchscreens. Touchscreens didn’t kill the mouse. The mouse didn’t kill the command line. Analysts yearn for a simple narrative where the birth of every new technology instantly heralds the death of the previous one, but interfaces are inherently multimodal. The more the merrier. Every new technology starts in a new underserved niche and slowly expands until it finds all the areas it’s best suited for."
Nice piece and couldn’t agree more. While AI has been ingrained in our day to day workflows, it is still just another tool, which we can chose to use or not to use, rather than something like a PC, without which any work we want to do today is incomplete. For AI to go from becoming just another tool to something that is essential part of our work—without which we cannot do anything, there’s a long way to go.
Great piece, sound thesis. This def resonates "This wasn’t just a one-sided “Hey, can you write a few paragraphs about x” prompt. It felt like a genuine, in-depth conversation and exchange of ideas with a true thought partner. Even weeks later, I’m still amazed at how well it worked. It was one of those rare, magical moments where software makes you feel like you’re living in the future."
Some really fascinating thoughts here. It’s interesting to see how this could connect with your thoughts on calendars, and layered productivity.
One of the big barriers for AI at the moment to use voice commands is the ubiquity that it needs. They need to be “always on”, always listening - it needs to understand context and be ready when you need it.
As you say at the OS level.
with fears of privacy, and what companies do when they listen all the time ( see Facebook and its ads based on listening) it’s a real Trickey one to navigate.
Great essay Julian.
Reminded me of this piece I wrote shortly after alexa "happened"
"New input devices don’t kill their predecessors, they stack on top of them. Voice won’t kill touchscreens. Touchscreens didn’t kill the mouse. The mouse didn’t kill the command line. Analysts yearn for a simple narrative where the birth of every new technology instantly heralds the death of the previous one, but interfaces are inherently multimodal. The more the merrier. Every new technology starts in a new underserved niche and slowly expands until it finds all the areas it’s best suited for."
https://www.intercom.com/blog/benefits-of-voice-ui/
ha! great post! ahead of its time!
Nice piece and couldn’t agree more. While AI has been ingrained in our day to day workflows, it is still just another tool, which we can chose to use or not to use, rather than something like a PC, without which any work we want to do today is incomplete. For AI to go from becoming just another tool to something that is essential part of our work—without which we cannot do anything, there’s a long way to go.
Great piece, sound thesis. This def resonates "This wasn’t just a one-sided “Hey, can you write a few paragraphs about x” prompt. It felt like a genuine, in-depth conversation and exchange of ideas with a true thought partner. Even weeks later, I’m still amazed at how well it worked. It was one of those rare, magical moments where software makes you feel like you’re living in the future."
Some really fascinating thoughts here. It’s interesting to see how this could connect with your thoughts on calendars, and layered productivity.
One of the big barriers for AI at the moment to use voice commands is the ubiquity that it needs. They need to be “always on”, always listening - it needs to understand context and be ready when you need it.
As you say at the OS level.
with fears of privacy, and what companies do when they listen all the time ( see Facebook and its ads based on listening) it’s a real Trickey one to navigate.