The recent breakthrough in large language models can be compared to the invention of the internal combustion engine: a powerful foundational technology standing at the heart of a vast array of life-changing tools, from something as simple as a lawn mower to heavy machinery and space shuttles, ultimately bringing us closer to the stars.
Yet, while revolutionary technologies ignite transformation, it is the products and tools built from these innovations that truly change the world. The transistor unlocked a new era, but it was the Walkman, the Game Boy, and the Mac that brought it into our hands.
Henry Ford driving a 1903 Model A, the first car produced by the Ford Motor Company
So far, in the face of the thrilling new technology, we’ve fallen back on what feels most familiar: the chat interface. And while conversation may be the most natural mode of interaction, the chat box itself already feels like a retro redundancy. We’ve trained models to understand us, but we’ve caged them in little gray boxes*
Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak with the Apple 1 computer
Computers are not the thing, but a thing that gets us to the thing. An instrument we play to write a song, the spark we harness to make food, a utensil that helps craft something beautiful. The ultimate companion standing by our side, whether we’re cooking dinner or exploring the surface of a distant planet in a far-off galaxy.
In the wildest fantasies of the early days of the computer era, we never imagined machines that required window management, tab reordering, ad blockers, and smoother corners. We dreamed of computers we could simply ask.
Alexey Sekachov
Amsterdam, April 1, 2025
* That last line wasn’t in the original draft of this letter. But while I was performing a final spell check, I asked the AI if anything else could be improved, and it suggested that sentence. It stopped me cold. We’ve trained models to understand us, but we’ve caged them in little gray boxes. I felt I had no choice but to include it.
Building a personal assistant for kids at the skate park and astronauts on Mars