Enough AI copilots, we need AI HUDs • Hacker News Board

Re: Enough AI copilots, we need AI HUDs

#11

Post by sipjca » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 1:34 AM UTC

hi_hi wrote: post #8

Doesn't it all come down to "what is the ideal interface for humans to deal with digital information"? We're getting more and more information thrown at us each day, and the AIs are adding to that, not reducing it. The ability to summarise dense and specialist information (I'm thinking error logs, but could be anything really) just means more ways for people to access and view that information who previously wouldn't…

yep I think this is the fundamental question as well, everything else is intermediate

Re: Enough AI copilots, we need AI HUDs

#12

Post by droideqa » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 1:34 AM UTC

I want a link to the GitHub for this[0] which he linked to. Makes Prolog quite interesting.

[0]: https://www.geoffreylitt.com/2024/12/22/making-programming-m...

Re: Enough AI copilots, we need AI HUDs

#13

Post by thepuglor » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 1:41 AM UTC

I'd rather flip this around and be in a fully immersive environment watching agents do things in such a way that I am able to interject and guide in realtime. How do we build that, and build it in such a way that the content and delivery of my guidance becomes critical to what they learn? The best teacher gets the best AI students.

Re: Enough AI copilots, we need AI HUDs

#14

Post by aaron695 » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 1:41 AM UTC

This is a mess.

The 1992 talk wasn't at all about AI and since then our phones have given us "ubiquitous computing" en masse.

The original talk required no 'artificial intelligence' for relevance which makes it strange to apply to todays artificial intelligence.

The original talk made good points for instance "voice recognition" has been solved forever at a reasonable level, yet people kept claiming if it was 'better' a 'magic experience' would pop out as if voice was different to typing. Idiots have been around for a long time.

Don't get what OP is trying to say.

'AI HUD metaphors' are very hard, that's why they are not ubiquitous, they require constant input. Spellcheck runs every character typed. Agents are because of less $.

'Hallucinations' also make 'AI HUD metaphors' problematic, for spellcheck squiggly red lines would be blinking on off all over the page as a LLM keeps coming back with different results.

Re: Enough AI copilots, we need AI HUDs

#15

Post by jpm_sd » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 1:43 AM UTC

This is how ship's AI is depicted in The Expanse (TV series) and I think it's really compelling. Quiet and unobtrusive, but Alex can ask the Rocinante to plot a new course or display the tactical situation and it's fast, effective and effortlessly superhuman with no back-talk or unnecessary personality.

Compare another sci-fi depiction taken to the opposite extreme: Sirius Cybernetics products in the Hitchhikers Guide books. "Thank you for making a simple door very happy!"

Re: Enough AI copilots, we need AI HUDs

#16

Post by hnthrowaway121 » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 1:46 AM UTC

cadamsdotcom wrote: post #4

Love the idea & spitballing ways to generalize to coding.. Thought experiment: as you write code, an LLM generates tests for it & the IDE runs those tests as you type, showing which ones are passing & failing, updating in real time. Imagine 10-100 tests that take The tests could appear in a separated panel next to your code, and pass/fail status in the gutter of that panel. As simple as red and green dots for tests t…

Yes the reverse makes much more sense to me. AI help to spec out the software & then the code has an accepted definition of correctness. People focus on this way less than they should I think

Re: Enough AI copilots, we need AI HUDs

#17

Post by kova12 » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 1:49 AM UTC

aren't we missing the point that co-pilot is there in case pilot gets incapacitated?

Re: Enough AI copilots, we need AI HUDs

#18

Post by guardiang » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 1:57 AM UTC

hi_hi wrote: post #8

Doesn't it all come down to "what is the ideal interface for humans to deal with digital information"? We're getting more and more information thrown at us each day, and the AIs are adding to that, not reducing it. The ability to summarise dense and specialist information (I'm thinking error logs, but could be anything really) just means more ways for people to access and view that information who previously wouldn't…

Every human is different, don't generalize the interface. Dynamically customize it on the fly.

Re: Enough AI copilots, we need AI HUDs

#19

Post by benjaminwootton » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 2:01 AM UTC

I think there is a third and distinct model which is AI that runs in the background autonomously amd over a long period and pushes things to you.

It can detect situations intelligently, do the filtering, summarisation of what’s happening and possibly a recommendation.

This feels a lot more natural to me, especially in a business context when you want to monitor for 100 situations about thousands of customers.

Re: Enough AI copilots, we need AI HUDs

#20

Post by moomoo11 » Mon, Jul 28, 2025, 2:04 AM UTC

hi_hi wrote: post #8

Doesn't it all come down to "what is the ideal interface for humans to deal with digital information"? We're getting more and more information thrown at us each day, and the AIs are adding to that, not reducing it. The ability to summarise dense and specialist information (I'm thinking error logs, but could be anything really) just means more ways for people to access and view that information who previously wouldn't…

I like the smartphone. It’s honestly perfect and underutilized.