Intent-Based Outcome Specification

AI is introducing the third user-interface paradigm in computing history, shifting to a new interaction mechanism where users tell the computer what they want, not how to do it — thus reversing the locus of control.

In this paradigm [command-based interaction], the user and the computer would take turns, one command at a time. This paradigm is so powerful that it has dominated computing ever since — for more than 60 years.

With the new AI systems, the user no longer tells the computer what to do (command-based interaction paradigm). Rather, the user tells the computer what outcome they want. Compared to traditional command-based interaction, this paradigm completely reverses the locus of control.

Generative AI offers substantial shortcuts around the often tedious and time-consuming work required to research a topic, including:

"You don't know what you don't know." That's an eternal challenge when humans seek to answer a question or learn about a topic. With traditional web search, users are severely limited by their ability to articulate their need. They have to know what they're looking for in order to provide keywords to a search engine.

Because generative AI chats and AI-powered search engines can accept wordy, complex questions, keywords are less of a barrier than they used to be. The ability to express an information need in full sentences, without proper terminology, is extremely powerful.

"It's quite hard to find the right word. You know a problem, but you don't know the best way to describe that problem when you're a novice…"

Customers will expect organizations to maintain their own branded web presence that can be accessed directly when needed. Customer expectation of on-site search and product discovery will be that it should behave like GenAI platforms.

Before the adoption of GenAI models, the user role in interactions with technology was mostly command-based; users instructed the system what to do in order to achieve a goal. GenAI models shift such interactions to an intent-based paradigm, where the user can just outline an outcome without having to specify every detail of how it should be accomplished.