Completely new UI for AI tools like NotebookLM

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I really like the concept of NotebookLM and other such tools. Upload a bunch of documents, then have a convo about them.

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I hope this will lead to radical development in UI. I think that the current UI game of AI tools is the epitome of “looking at [the future] through a rear-view mirror” (McLuhan).

I’m convinced we can do much, much better. And I wonder if Flutter can play a role.

I’m not talking about cute graphics and beautiful transitions. I’m talking about ways to interact with the system — in a novel way. For example, the current way that NotebookLM references source material is clearly suboptimal. You click the number, then it enlarges the panel on the left, shows a stream of text (not the original formated document), and your current reading position is often affected by the re-layout. Contrast with experimentations such as Ted Nelson’s Xanadu.

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I’m not saying Xanadu is good UI (it almost certainly isn’t, imho) but at least it’s trying something new in the context of many documents and many cross-references.

Anyway, feel free to discuss. I really believe there’s a massive opportunity here. And Flutter might make this a lot easier (with its pixel-perfect control, complete control over layout, portability, etc.).

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I think everything that NotebookLM is doing is now available (or soon will be). Just a matter of getting some decent prompts. Then you can skin it whatever way you want. gemini-flash-2 is already pretty amazing. 2.5 getting even smarter.

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Excellent point Filip! I agree there is room for so much more innovative thinking when it comes to UIs in general and applying that to new technologies like LLMs is even more lagging. Brett Victors numerous talks and critiques really show how backward looking our industry is when it comes to UIs and dare I say it UX.

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I wasn’t aware of Bret Victor. Can you recommend a specific talk (or two)?

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“Inventing on principle” is his seminal one I think, but also one of the oldest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGqwXt90ZqA

While “The future of programming” is the sardonic, but damning indictment of how sadly slow progress in our field has been since the early years: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pTEmbeENF4

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I loved the remark in https://youtu.be/EGqwXt90ZqA?t=321. This is why Flutter (and perhaps web too) is so enjoyable.

how would I ever have discovered that if I had to compile and run between every change

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:100: Dominik.
I’m sure Randal would point out that the Smalltalkers reaslised all this almost half a century ago. It’s so sad that the industry didn’t follow that path.

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The Dynabook concept led the way for many things we consider modern, and are only now slowly implementing fully.

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