The Fountain Institute is an independent online school that teaches advanced UX & product skills.
5 Signals That Hint at the Future of AI Interactions
5 Signals That Hint at the Future of AI Interactionsby Jeff Humble Dear Reader, The AI landscape is changing fast, and the way we interact with AI is changing even faster. Who knows what the UX of AI will be in 2035? Right now, most of us talk to AI through clunky, chat-based interfaces. But new hardware hints at something more human and ambient. Today, I want to share 5 signals: surprising examples from today that suggest where the future might end up, and a method used by future foresight professionals. Here are 5 signals about the future of UX & AI Signal #1: Meta Ray-Bans Are Quietly Winning the AI Wearables Game with Simple UXMeta has sold over 2 million AI-powered smart glasses. Why? They’re stylish, subtle, and usable. Unlike the Humane Pin, they don’t scream “look at my tech.” How might we integrate fashionable, easy-to-use, screenless AI experiences in the future? Signal #2: The Doom Box is a DIY, Offline AI ComputerBuilt in a Faraday cage using Raspberry Pi, this apocalypse-proof device keeps AI private and usable...no cloud connection (or subscription) required! How might we learn from hobbyists' off-grid & offline AI hardware? Signal #3: Infinite Memory Through Wearable AIStartups like Limitless and Bee offer pendants and earbuds that record and transcribe everything you hear. The result? A searchable memory bank of your daily life. How might we pair simple hardware with AI to come up with new user value? Signal #4: AI Mirrors That Monitor Your HealthWithings’ concept AI mirror blends into your bathroom while tracking posture, heart rate, and more. It’s passive, ambient, and strangely comforting. 🔗 Preview the Withings Mirror How might we bring old inputs into new AI-powered interfaces? Signal #5: OpenAI +Jony Ive Are Building a Voice-First AI DeviceSam Altman and Jony Ive are working on a $6.5B ambient AI device. It's got no screen, but a lot of presence. It’s the anti-iPhone, and it could reshape how we think about smart homes. How might we design experiences that are ambient and screenless? Inputs for UX Strategy & InnovationThese signals aren’t predictions; they’re inputs for designing strategy and creating innovative new products. They hint at where the UX of AI might go:
And most importantly, AI interfaces might not look like interfaces at all? Anything is possible. Now is the perfect moment to get creative and come up with a new strategy to surf this AI wave. What do you think? Want to go deeper? 👉 Read the full blog post (and share it with a friend) 👉 Take my UX strategy course (and take control of your team's future) Source, yours truly
Stay curious! 🔭
P.S. I've decided to run another LIVE cohort of Defining UX Strategy this autumn. Click here to join the waitlist |
The Fountain Institute
The Fountain Institute is an independent online school that teaches advanced UX & product skills.
What Can't AI Do in Design in 2026 By Hannah Baker Dear Reader, If you work in design, your feeds are probably saying the same two things on repeat: Here’s everything AI can do for you, and Here’s why you should be terrified. Most of that conversation focuses on tools and job titles: “Will designers be replaced?” “Which roles are safe?” It makes for good headlines, but it’s not how the work actually changes in real life. A few months ago, walking to my studio listening to a Planet Money...
Does the Double Diamond make sense for AI-enabled teams? by Jeff Humble Dear Reader, For twenty years, the Double Diamond has been our north star. Discover, Define, Develop, Deliver. It's elegant. It's teachable. It's in every junior's UX case study. And it made sense…when it was created. All that upfront research made economic sense when coding was the most expensive part of the process. Better to get it right before handoff because it's expensive for engineering to make changes later. But...
When Frameworks Fail and Gut Feelings Take Over By Hannah Baker Dear Reader, You know that moment when the data looks clear, the framework is airtight, and yet something in your stomach says, don’t do it? That’s judgment, the quiet, inconvenient voice that shows up when the evidence has already spoken. It’s also the thing most of us struggle to explain, even though our careers depend on it. Businesses love reasoning. We build frameworks to make decisions look rational, dashboards to make them...