This is a collection of some loosely connected thoughts sorted, altered, transcribed with AI
Only a few of us "old ones" may remember Anna from IKEA, or Clippy from the Windows 98 era—those early days of chatbots. But lately, my thoughts have been occupied by chatbots again, partly because of my fascination with Intents (the Web3 ones) and partly with generative AI.
I vividly recall around 2016, when I was deeply fascinated by those bots or conversational UIs and considered them the future. I wrote about it here (the naïve old me), but it seems that with generative AI, we are finally witnessing the Spike Jonze version of "Her" become a reality. Silicon Valley enthusiasts now have their AI girlfriends, boyfriends, and other forms of companions, and I assume several brands are experimenting with making bots and agents their primary mode of interaction. Chat with Bluey, chat with Darth Vader, etc. Does anyone remember the days when you could choose other voices on Waze? When I think about it, we're likely already interacting mostly with AI when using various customer service tools, or at least it will not feel foreign.
This led me to reflect on my early days as an early-gen iPhone adopter. Back then, when asked what one could do with it, all I could showcase was the LightSaber app or that Bubble Wrap thing—cool at the time, but I understand the skepticism now. In hindsight, there was a lot of skeuomorphism involved. Those designs, with their faux leather textures and paper-like surfaces, taught us the gestures and ways to navigate the mobile internet world. Apps needed to resemble their real-world counterparts.
Skeuomorphism is a concept we often abuse in technology. We've done it with every iteration of the computer. Ever wondered why we call it "trash," "desktop," "folder"? It's not because they are those things; they are metaphors that help us understand how to interact with digital environments.
Now, generative AI and platforms like ChatGPT make having a conversation humane. I find myself occasionally arguing with ChatGPT or Claude, even consulting a "council of Ramons"—my set of GPTs for self-debate. This made me think that perhaps these agents are just the skeuomorphism of this phase.
So, what's next? I believe we are truly on the brink of an "agent-first" web, where interactions are increasingly facilitated through agents. I simply state my intention, and an agent takes it up and executes on my behalf. This could lead to a headless/ghost market, or at least that's where I would place my bet in a prediction market. Agents, in a way, are somewhat ghostlike, if you think about it. To make sense of them, we often need to find a language and metaphor for interaction, hence the creation of characters and AI personalities.
In my past, I've had the fortune to work with some incredible game designers. With the tragedy of layoffs of creative talents and the massive opportunities AI presents, I wonder if we'll see more NPCs emerging in our daily lives.
What's the difference between Alexa, Siri, and an NPC in a game? NVIDIA's demo of their AI NPCs brought us closer to a fascinating aspect of agents entering our lives.
My thesis has always been that games are a canary in the coal mine for future trends. The worlds of Warcraft inspired Vitalik Buterin to gift us Ethereum. Games prototyped virtual economies, and perhaps we've overlooked the abundance of NPCs (their words for agents) and their potential.
This leads me to think about the interesting elements we could "borrow" from gaming. The guided conversations from Mass Effect, the Nemesis System from Shadow of Mordor, and the rich character stories in Red Dead Redemption. I start to wonder if more game designers will become involved in the agent world because an agent without a main character audience is just a basic customer service bot. But with some backstory, it could become a meaningful companion.
This raises questions about who will develop these agents, how, and how much backstory they will have. And as always with skeuomorphism, it's always temporary. After leather textures came flat design, and after NPCs/Agents, there will be...?
