Distill's 2017 classic revisited: interfaces into model representations to augment human intelligence
enjalot · x · 2026-09-09
enjalot shares Distill's 2017 classic "Using Artificial Intelligence to Augment Human Intelligence" by Shan Carter and Michael Nielsen, recalling Hofstadter's Surfaces and Essences.
- Core thesis: build interfaces that let humans work with representations inside ML models, giving people new tools for reasoning
- Traces two visions of computing: early machines as batch number-crunchers vs. Engelbart's 1962 intelligence augmentation (IA) vision of real-time interactive systems
- That lineage influenced Alan Kay, Steve Jobs, and modern computing systems design
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