The Case Against Conversational Interfaces

How does text-based prompting supplant or augment GUIs?

Some of the language models’ ability to infer natural language (ChatGPT) is unwieldy so there has been a lot of scrum about how text-based prompts could completely replace graphical user interfaces. My sense is that this won’t happen overnight as GUIs give way to higher fidelity or correctnes

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For decades now, software tools have promised to make working life easier. But on one critical dimension — their ability to improve our thinking — they don’t seem to be making much progress at all.

Meanwhile, the arrival of generative artificial intelligence could make the tools we use more powerful than ever — or they could turn out to be just ano... See more

Rather than reaching definitive conclusions about how AI will transform work, I find myself collecting observations about a moving target. What seems consistent is that, for now, the greatest value comes not from surrendering control entirely to AI or clinging to entirely human workflows, but from finding the right points of collaboration for each ... See more