Reflecting on CHI2024 - Free Version in Japanese - Medium
From the era of Direct Manipulation to the next era
It can be said that with this development, the significant story of CHI has concluded, opening the door to the next era. The significant story of CHI refers to the era of Direct Manipulation. The paradigm of “operating computers in real-time, interacting with computers interactively while receiving real-time feedback,” pioneered by Ivan Sutherland and Douglas Engelbart, should be considered as having reached a certain conclusion, at least as a research subject (although the emergence of smartphones may have already marked a turning point in terms of research).
As for what comes next, there is a direction towards achieving objectives by engaging in some form of “conversation” with AI. This concept is not particularly new, as research on natural language interfaces and agent-based interfaces has been ongoing. Future interfaces that we commonly envision, such as HAL from the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, are more likely to be agent-based rather than direct manipulation. While presentations on such topics have been made in the CHI community before, the dominance of Direct Manipulation as the majority has remained unshaken. However, it now seems that the “significant story” has finally come to a conclusion. This does not mean that Direct Manipulation is no longer needed or obsolete, but rather that it is no longer the main focus. (The use of “conversation” in quotes implies that it is not necessarily limited to narrow language conversations but encompasses possibilities such as biological information, non-verbal information, context, history, and even BCI).
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This doesn’t resonate much with me. Losing the sense of direct manipulation and seeing AI taking agency makes me feel a sense of loneliness.
- In the context of surrounding sentences, one could also interpret it as valuing “what you want even if you have to pay for it” rather than “something that resonates with you”.
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As the value of humans entering feedback loops diminishes, there doesn’t seem to be much economic value placed on “direct sense” or “agency sense”.
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In systems where humans teleoperate, there seems to be value in the direct sense, but as machines become better at tasks than humans, there isn’t much value in humans feeling agency.
- The value of “something being done” is generally higher than the value of “feeling that something has been done”.
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Communication might be an exception.
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It seems that creating customer value that is more understandable by considering information transmission efficiency rather than “agency sense” is more likely.
- This relates to where the value lies in interfaces.
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Concepts like OOUI seem to provide understandable value in the context of human search efficiency.