# Intent-Based Outcome Specification

> AI is shifting online search from keyword-based queries to intent-based interactions, where users describe desired outcomes rather than specific commands — reversing the locus of control between human and computer.

AI is shifting online search from keyword-based queries to intent-based interactions, where users describe desired outcomes rather than specific commands — reversing the locus of control between human and computer.

> The new paradigm for Online Search

## AI: First New UI Paradigm in 60 Years

**Publisher:** Nielsen Norman Group

[Open the source](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ai-paradigm/) ↗

> 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 [<strong>command-based interaction</strong>], 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, <strong>the user no longer tells the computer what to do</strong> (command-based interaction paradigm). <strong>Rather, the user tells the computer what outcome they want</strong>. Compared to traditional command-based interaction, this paradigm <strong>completely reverses the locus of control</strong>.

## How AI Is Changing Search Behaviors

**Publisher:** Nielsen Norman Group

[Open the source](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ai-changing-search-behaviors/) ↗

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

> <ul><li>Defining and articulating the information need</li><li>Overcoming information gaps and keyword-foraging problems</li><li>Weighing and selecting credible sources</li><li>Sifting through enormous amounts of information</li><li>Scanning through long pages of text</li><li>Comparing contradicting perspectives from different sources</li><li>Synthesizing and storing information (mentally or in a note)</li></ul>

## How AI Succeeds (and Fails) to Help People Find Information

**Publisher:** Nielsen Norman Group

[Open the source](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ai-information-seeking-keyword-foraging/) ↗

> "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, <strong>keywords are less of a barrier than they used to be.</strong> 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…"

## AI Search and Product Discovery Revolution: Will Your Digital Commerce Experience Keep Up?

**Publisher:** Gartner

[Open the source](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wkjkigxf7XVLTVb6ol7quhysRtIUqSyb/view?usp=drive_link) ↗

> 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.

## Emerging Tech: Agentic AI Is Transforming User Interfaces and Experiences

**Publisher:** Gartner

[Open the source](https://drive.google.com/file/d/17N9Au87Van9O-zjfY6QSy4AvCsJO19iJ/view?usp=drive_link) ↗

> 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.

## GenAI for Complex Questions, Search for Critical Facts

**Publisher:** Nielsen Norman Group

[Open the source](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/ai-search-infoseeking/?utm_source=Alertbox&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=content&utm_content=articles) ↗

> Users turned to AI when they started with vague ideas, juggled <strong>multiple requirements, or combined information from many sources</strong>. They used traditional search when they needed accuracy, control, and trusted sources.

> Many of the information-seeking tasks conducted by participants involved <strong>constraints</strong> such as budget, timeline, or location. These are often difficult to include in traditional search queries, especially when several need to be considered simultaneously.

> Users gravitated toward <strong>traditional search when they wanted control over the search process and confidence in the results</strong>.