Enough AI copilots! We need AI HUDs
July 2025 Enough AI copilots! We need AI HUDs In my opinion, one of the best critiques of modern AI design comes from a 1992 talk by the researcher Mark Weiser where he ranted against “copilot” as a metaphor for AI. This was 33 years ago, but it’s still incredibly relevant for anyone designing...
Hasnain says:
“I don’t believe HUDs are universally better than copilots! But I do believe anyone serious about designing for AI should consider non-copilot form factors that more directly extend the human mind.
So when should we use one or the other? I think it’s quite tricky to answer that, but we can try to use the airplane analogy for some intuition:
When pilots just want the plane to fly straight and level, they fully delegate that task to an autopilot, which is close to a “virtual copilot”. But if the plane just hit a flock of birds and needs to land in the Hudson, the pilot is going to take manual control, and we better hope they have great instruments that help them understand the situation.
In other words: routine predictable work might make sense to delegate to a virtual copilot / assistant. But when you’re shooting for extraordinary outcomes, perhaps the best bet is to equip human experts with new superpowers.”
Posted on 2025-07-28T00:59:05+0000