The ultimate user interface is language, and as natural language becomes more accessible, it will replace many gestural user interfaces.
Nathan Sobo predicts that language will become the primary user interface, reducing the need for complex graphical interfaces, though graphics will still have a place for appropriate contexts. ✦ AI generated
Nathan Sobo · Syntax · 2026-08-12 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 45:18
“Do you have Do you have any opinions of like would that ever be a future? I know games kind of already do that, but like just some UI generated and simply just streamed to a thin client.”
the ultimate user interface is basically language. Um and you know, for the longest time for the last whatever 50 years, 40 years, like the only people that could really use language to talk to a computer were people like us, software developers. And uh even then it was like pretty grueling brutal process of memorizing a menagerie of commands and flags and programming languages and tags and all of it, right? Um so, I think now that language natural language is like opened up as a way of interacting, like it's such a superior means of expression over essentially like gestural user interfaces that we've been confined to use in the previous era.
verbatim transcript · starts at 45:18
45:18and you know, for the longest time for the last whatever 50 years, 40 years, like the only people that could really use language to talk to a computer were people like us, software developers. And uh even then it was like pretty grueling brutal process of memorizing a menagerie of commands and flags and programming languages and tags and all of it, right? >> I was trying to explain to my 9-year-old
45:44the usage of brackets and semicolons and I was just [laughter] like it's really wild, yeah. >> Um so, I think now that language natural language is like opened up as a way of interacting, like it's such a superior means of expression over essentially like gestural user interfaces that we've been confined to use in the previous era. Like it's really it just Yeah, it's sort of like the
46:14like I like I if you if you couldn't talk, I guess you'd have sign language. So I don't know. Maybe I'm But like, you know, I think the most sophisticated user interfaces, the problem with them is they started to approach sign language, which is really hard to learn. And so we were kind of in this common denominator of yeah, fairly crude gestural interfaces. And I think as language becomes cheaper and we get
46:41better at building user interfaces utilizing text and language, it's going to take over more and more of the user interface. But then I still think there is a place for graphics. Like it's a why Delta's a graphical app and not a terminal agent. Cuz I do think that yeah, graphics and you know, subtle use of images and icons and progress bars and things that are not confined to a
47:12you know, >> a terminal line >> monospace terminal grid >> Yeah. >> still have tremendous value. Um And so I think in that context, absolutely are we going to have Yeah, even like mermaid is in Delta like a very early example of that and I think we're going to be adding more capability of that sort over time of like Yeah, mermaid is this markdown-esque. It's like the markdown
47:40of diagrams or something, right? Like the syntax the agent can token efficiently generate to build a little flowchart or whatever it is you need in line. Um but yeah, why wouldn't that extend to where gestural interfaces are appropriate? Like why wouldn't you let the agent sort of assemble that on the fly? But I also just think you can accomplish so much with language alone. >> Totally. I agree. I agree. That's good.
48:05I'm I'm I'm glad you said that cuz I've been on this like what does the future of UI kick go for in the in the next little last like 6 months, you know, I've been talks and talking about MCPY and some people think the browser is going to go away and it's somewhere in between. So I always like asking people that whenever I get to chat with them.