Design in 2025: To chat or not to chat

The Future of Human-AI Interfaces: Beyond Chat and Towards Embodied Interaction

This collection explores the evolving landscape of human-AI interfaces, challenging the dominance of conversational chatbots and advocating for more sophisticated, multi-modal approaches to human-computer interaction. The documents collectively argue that while AI capabilities are rapidly advancing, our interface paradigms are becoming increasingly reductive—flattening rich, embodied human experiences into text-based exchanges.

Key themes include:

• Interface Evolution: A progression from physical computing to GUIs to touchscreens, now trending toward text-only AI interactions that may be losing essential human elements
• Design Principles: Emphasis on direct manipulation, visual clarity, and supporting human agency rather than replacing it
• AI Development Methodology: Introduction of frameworks like CC/CD (Continuous Calibration/Continuous Development) that account for AI's non-deterministic nature
• Critical Thinking: Concerns about AI systems that reinforce rather than challenge human assumptions, potentially undermining Enlightenment values of intellectual rigor

The collection suggests we're at a pivotal moment where interface design choices will determine whether AI augments human capabilities or diminishes them, advocating for approaches that preserve human agency, support critical thinking, and leverage our full sensory and cognitive capabilities.