Moving Beyond the "Assistant" Metaphor for AI
·1543 words·8 mins
Why the future of consumer AI isn’t a better “buddy,” but a better bridge. # 2026 is shaping up to be a big year for Consumer AI
It seems to me that in 2025, enterprise AI started to develop some kind of shape. Product paradigms started to emerge for AI-as-coder, for AI-as-spreadsheet-analyst, for AI-as-audiovisual editor. We’re still in the early stages, but we’ve moved beyond the empty chat box.