简而言之:人工智能正在让软件界面变得动态且可塑,推动SaaS从固定的应用前端转向多种按需定制的用户体验。
Salesforce已经实现了无头化:销售人员无需登录salesforce.com,即可通过AI更新他们的交易表单。许多公司正通过MCP(模型上下文协议)效仿这一做法。将英语作为复杂系统的交互界面是一项巨大的创新。
然而,一些最顶尖的AI思想家正在推动的远不止Markdown文本(一种AI与计算机系统使用的格式)。这些思想家推崇更丰富的用户界面:
“想象一下用iMessage做所有事情,而实际上其他每个应用都有其独特的界面……在电子商务领域,你需要一个非常丰富的用户界面。”——布莱恩·切斯基,Airbnb首席执行官
“我想要更丰富的可视化效果、色彩和图表,并且希望能够轻松分享它们,”他补充道。“我开始偏好使用HTML而非Markdown作为输出格式,并且越来越多地看到Claude Code团队的其他成员也这样做,这就是原因。”——Thariq Shihipar,Claude Code工程师
AI使我们能够在我们需要时,动态创建按需定制的用户界面。无论是针对度假购物、CRM更新还是终端输入,都可以根据接收者的偏好进行量身定制。
无头系统并非砍掉系统的“头”;它们反而催生了多种用户界面。
在路上?来一份你邮件的音频摘要怎么样?正在审阅营销文案?交互式网页应用。规划明年的预算?带图表的交互式电子表格。
软件系统需要决定哪些界面需要长期保留,哪些是一次性的;那些较新的半永久性产物将成为新的“头”——没错,会有很多个——并且它们会随着业务的发展而演变。
这种动态的UI管理是软件价值的未来:即用于控制界面并确保其正确性的“缰绳”,以及用于将随时间积累的所有AI产品作为上下文数据库和产物库进行合理化的知识管理。
用户界面,也就是那个“头”,并没有消失,它变得可塑,能够根据用户在需要时的需求而改变形态。塑料(可塑性)的未来大有可为。
In short : AI is making software interfaces dynamic and malleable, shifting SaaS from fixed application heads toward many purpose-built user experiences.
Salesforce has gone headless : a sales person can update their deal sheet without ever logging into salesforce.com through AI. Many companies are following suit with MCPs. English as an interface to complex systems is a tremendous innovation.
And yet, some of the most sophisticated thinkers in AI are pushing more than markdown text, a format AI & computer systems use. These thinkers espouse richer UIs :
“Imagine using iMessage to do everything, when in fact every other app has a unique interface…With e-commerce, you want a very rich user interface.” - Brian Chesky, CEO of AirBNB
“I want richer visualizations, color, and diagrams and I want to be able to share them easily,” he adds. “I’ve started preferring HTML as an output format instead of Markdown and increasingly see this being used by others on the Claude Code team, this is why.” — Thariq Shihipar, Claude Code engineer
AI enables us to dynamically create UIs whenever we need them built for purpose. Custom-tailored to vacation shopping, CRM updating, or terminal typing, whatever the recipient’s preference might be.
Headless systems don’t decapitate the system ; they enable many user interfaces.
On the go? How about an audio summary of your email? Reviewing marketing copy? Interactive web app. Planning expenses for next year? Interactive spreadsheet with charts.
Software systems need to decide which of these to keep over time & which are disposable ; those newer semi-permanent artifacts will become the new heads - yes, there will be many - & they’ll evolve as business does.
This dynamic UI management is the future of software value : the harness to control the interface/ensure it’s correct & the knowledge management to rationalize all the AI products over time as a context database & library of artifacts.
The user interface, the head isn’t disappearing, it’s become plastic, malleable to the interface a user needs when they need it. There’s a great future in plastics.