Weekend Reads: Five +1 Links
Jony Ives and OpenAI, The future of Agents, Technical Optimism & Existential dread, Punk rock in UX, and Rude cities.
Jony Ive + OpenAI = New Hype
I have been excited at some of the recent hardware approaches to interacting with GenAI. This one is particularly exciting. Jony Ive is collaborating with OpenAI on an AI hardware project.
The project currently has only 10 employees, many of which include key figures from the iPhone team. There aren't any details about the device, but it is obviously going to leverage GenAI for potential new interaction patterns and form factors.
I'm hoping they are building with the principles associated with Calm Computing. Staring into the void has done enough for me, thank you.
Jony Ive confirms he’s working on a new device with OpenAI - The Verge
The Future of AI Agents: Dharmesh Shah at INBOUND 2024
Amazing presentation for a bunch of different reasons. There was a very clear articulation of what agents are and what they can do. That coupled with the exponential growth of models getting bigger, better, faster, and cheaper, the future is quickly becoming reality.
Shah predicts that everyone will not only be using agents this year, but they will be building agents this year. Not just developers (developers, developers) but anyone.
He walks through some very interesting UX showing how simple it is to build an agent. The interaction paradigm is something I called out in one my articles last year - and it’s awesome to see it being used in this flow.
Check it out around the 17 min mark. Also, many bangin Dad jokes throughout. "I was going to tell a joke about time travel, but you all didn't like it."
The Future Of AI Agents With Dharmesh Shah | INBOUND 2024 (youtube.com)
Technological Optimism is all you Need
Interesting discussion on the rise of technological optimism, particularly through the lens of (billionaire) Sam Altman and advancements in AI.
He envisions a future where AI leads to prosperity, while acknowledging potential challenges, including labor market changes.
It is a very compelling future he is outlining. And hyping up the future potential of his company is literally his job. So, there is that. Which leads me to the articles below.
Technological Optimism is all you Need - by Michael Spencer
The Surveillance Dystopia Is Already Here
Larry Ellison's vision for an AI-powered surveillance system raises my eyebrows about privacy and societal implications, as it proposes constant monitoring of citizens and police through various technologies.
To be sure, these systems are already in place, and they have not proven effective in reducing crime and often exacerbate issues of bias and privacy violations.
The article critiques the notion that increased surveillance will lead to improved safety, highlighting the existing failures of similar technologies.
Definitely an interesting and adversarial read on the future. I'd like to hold on to optimism.
The Surveillance Dystopia Is Already Here
UX needs more Punk
Interesting read that argues modern UX design has become too safe and predictable, focusing on minimizing friction at the expense of authentic user experiences.
It proposes incorporating punk principles into UX design, such as embracing chaos, breaking rules, and empowering users to shape their own experiences. The author suggests that by challenging conventional design paradigms and allowing for imperfection and correction, designers can create more engaging digital spaces for users. Which is an awesome sentiment. The designer's purpose should be challenging these established conventions by crafting principles that help build a more purposeful, intent-driven, structure of interaction for users.
One thing I liked was the angle of the importance of disrupting the status quo with purpose, aiming to fight against manipulation and exploitation in the digital world while giving users more control over their lives.
In case you were wondering, yes, they made a playlist to go with the post: Search and Destroy on Spotify.
Also, The rudest cities in the US, ranked.
This study by Cristina Miguelez at Preply is an interesting highlight on the impact of cultural differences with perceptions of rudeness. It also emphasizes the importance of respectful behavior in public.
Fun fact: Common rude behaviors include loudness in shared spaces and lack of self-awareness.
Click through to see the top 3.
The rudest U.S. cities in 2024