All Interfaces Are Becoming Conversational

Atwood’s Law: “Any application that can be written in JavaScript, will eventually be written in JavaScript.”

Fifteen years ago, Jeff Atwood declared.

At the time, this was a bold assertion. Yet today, we see it realized in countless applications — from web-based versions of Photoshop to browser-run IDEs. The web became the universal platform, and JavaScript its lingua franca.

Now, we stand at the dawn of a new era: the age of conversational interfaces.

The Rise of Conversational Interfaces

Consider a recent demonstration shared by Joseph Michael on LinkedIn. An AI agent assists a customer through voice, text, and video — understanding context, preferences, and even visual inputs to provide personalized recommendations and services.

This isn’t a distant future — it’s happening now.

Just as web applications once replaced desktop software, conversational interfaces are beginning to supplant traditional GUIs. The reasons are clear:

Accessibility: Voice and text interfaces lower the barrier to entry for users of all ages and abilities.
Efficiency: Conversational agents can handle complex tasks through simple dialogues.
Personalization: AI-driven conversations adapt to individual user needs in real-time.

Huan’s Law

Drawing inspiration from Atwood, I propose:

Huan’s Law: “Any application that can be talked to, will eventually be talked to.”

This isn’t merely a prediction — it’s an observation of current trends.

From customer service bots to voice-controlled home devices, conversational interfaces are becoming ubiquitous.

Embracing the Shift

For developers and businesses, this shift presents both challenges and opportunities:

Designing for Dialogue: Crafting intuitive conversational flows requires a new set of design principles.
Leveraging AI: Integrating natural language processing (NLP) and understanding (NLU) to create responsive agents.
Ensuring Privacy: Handling user data responsibly in conversational contexts.

At Wechaty, we’ve been at the forefront of this transformation — providing tools and frameworks to build conversational agents efficiently.

Conclusion

The evolution of user interfaces is steering toward conversation.

As we embraced the web and JavaScript in the past, it’s time to embrace conversational AI.

In the spirit of Huan’s Law:
If it can be talked to, it will be.

Sources

Atwood, Jeff. “All Programming is Web Programming”
Joseph Michael. “The most impressive AI demo I’ve seen in years.” (LinkedIn Post)