Generative AI’s Act Two

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• Generative interfaces. A text-based conversational user experience is the default interface on top of an LLM. Gradually, newer form factors are entering the arsenal, from Perplexity’s generative user interfaces to new modalities like human-sounding voices from Inflection AI.  New editing experiences: from Copilot to Director’s Mode. As we advance from zero-shot to ask-and-adjust (h/t Zach Lloyd), generative AI companies are inventing a new set of knobs and switches that look very different from traditional editing workflows. Midjourney’s new panning commands and Runway’s Director’s Mode create new camera-like editing experiences. Eleven Labs is making it possible to manipulate voices through prompting.

• System-wide optimization. Rather than embed in a single human user’s workflow and make that individual more efficient, some companies are directly tackling the system-wide optimization problem. Can you pick off a chunk of support tickets or pull requests and autonomously solve them, thereby making the whole system more effective?

• System-wide optimization. Rather than embed in a single human user’s workflow and make that individual more efficient, some companies are directly tackling the system-wide optimization problem. Can you pick off a chunk of support tickets or pull requests and autonomously solve them, thereby making the whole system more effective?

• However, Amara’s Law—the phenomenon that we tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run—is running its course. We are applying patience and judgment in our investment decisions, with careful attention to how founders are solving the value problem. The shared playbook companies are using to push the boundaries on model performance and product experiences gives us optimism on generative AI’s second act.

• y. One of the core insights of developer-first companies like Stripe or Unity has been that developer access opens up use cases you could not even imagine. In the last several quarters, we have been pitched everything from music generation communities to AI matchmakers to AI customer support agents.