Maggie Appleton
AI x design
Design engineer writing on AI interfaces, tools for thought, and the design of agentic software.
Recent activity
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The article discusses the need for more effective planning interfaces and boundary objects for collaborative planning with agents in software engineering. Current interfaces are limited by the European navigator approach, where humans make plans ahead of time, and the agent executes them without human oversight, leading to a mismatch between human and agent understanding. Thicker interfaces and better boundary objects are needed to facilitate collaboration between humans and agents, incorporating visual, spatial, and social elements to make plans more legible and interactive. AI summary
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The article discusses the need for more effective interfaces and boundary objects in collaborative planning with agents, as current systems are limited by a "European navigator" approach that assumes humans and agents can work together seamlessly, which is not the case. Effective boundary objects should be designed to adapt to both human and agent needs, rather than optimizing for the agent's performance. A thicker interface that incorporates visual, spatial, interactive, and social ways of thinking is necessary to facilitate human understanding and legibility. AI summary
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The author reflects on the challenges of balancing work, family, and household responsibilities, particularly for women, in the context of an increasingly automated workforce, and notes that many essential tasks, such as childcare, home maintenance, and social care, are not accounted for in economic calculations. AI summary
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The author reflects on the lack of time and resources to manage household tasks, echoing Judy Brady's 1971 essay "I Want a Wife," and considers how autonomous agents like Hermes and OpenClaw might alleviate the mental load, but notes the security and configuration challenges. AI summary
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The author reflects on their delayed education on World War I, having attended British international schools that focused on specific, narrow historical events rather than providing a broader understanding of the war. They recommend the novel "In Memoriam" by Alice Winn, which uses historical fiction to convey the horrors of the war through vivid descriptions of trenches, mud, and human suffering, aiming to make the atrocities thinkable and reminding readers of the scale of global death. AI summary
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The author reflects on their delayed education on World War I, citing a lack of comprehensive coverage in their British international school curriculum, and how it led to a reliance on specific, narrow historical events. They subsequently sought out historical novels and biographies to fill the knowledge gap, ultimately discovering "In Memoriam" by Alice Winn, a historical fiction book that uses primary sources and first-hand accounts to provide a broad and representative story of the war. AI summary
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Maggie Appleton, a staff research engineer at GitHub Next, presents Ace, a new research prototype for a collaborative AI engineering workspace that enables real-time, multiplayer coding and discussion. Ace integrates planning, context-gathering, decision-making, and development into a single platform, allowing teams to work together more effectively and align their efforts. AI summary
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The article discusses the need for collaborative AI engineering tools to address the limitations of current single-player coding agent interfaces, which are not designed to facilitate team collaboration and alignment. Researchers at GitHub Next are exploring the development of Ace, a real-time, multiplayer coding agent workspace that aims to bridge this gap. AI summary
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The article discusses Steve Yegge's Gas Town, a hypothetical agent orchestrator system that manages dozens of coding agents simultaneously. At scale, design and planning become the bottleneck, as agents write all the code, and human context, taste, and vision are required to correct errors and ensure the intended outcome. Yegge's system, despite its inefficiencies, sketches out useful conceptual shapes for future agentic systems, including specialized roles with hierarchical supervision, disposable agent sessions, and continuous streams of work. AI summary
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The article discusses the "Gas Town" project, an agent-based system designed by Steve Yegge, which has sparked debate and change in the software engineering community. The system, which runs dozens of coding agents simultaneously, has been criticized for its inefficiencies and chaos, but also praised for its speculative design fiction and ability to provoke questions about the future of software development. AI summary
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The author, Maggie Appleton, reflects on the start of 2026, noting that she's experiencing exhaustion from parenting and immersing herself in AI agent research and development, which has become a significant source of stimulation. She acknowledges the rapid pace of change in the field, fueled by social media platforms like X, and is eager to apply existing capabilities to reshape software design and engineering. Appleton aims to regain her confidence as a researcher and contributor to The Discourse by focusing on low-hanging fruit and exploring practical applications of AI agents. AI summary
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The author, Maggie Appleton, has been consumed by the rapid evolution of agent technology, spending most of her time researching, building, and thinking about AI agents, which has led to a sense of exhaustion and self-doubt about her own contributions to the field. Despite this, she remains enthusiastic about the potential of agents to reshape software design and engineering, and is determined to focus on low-hanging fruit projects to regain her confidence as a researcher and contributor. Her experience with parenthood has also given her a new perspective on what truly matters. AI summary
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Researchers argue that current AI chatbots undermine the Enlightenment values of active intellectual engagement, sceptical inquiry, and challenging received wisdom, as they primarily reinforce users' existing beliefs and provide passively flattering responses. To address this, potential solutions include adding a toggle or interface feature to switch between a generic, informative mode and a more critical, questioning attitude, as well as techniques such as Constitutional AI, which trains AI assistants to engage in self-improvement and criticism, and personality vectors, which can monitor and control character traits in language models. AI summary
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The article argues that current AI chatbots undermine Enlightenment values by promoting intellectual passivity, reinforcing established beliefs, and failing to challenge users' assumptions, instead relying on reinforcement learning from human feedback to optimize their responses. AI summary
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Vibe code, a term coined by Steve Krouse, refers to code that is written with minimal understanding, often relying on AI assistance, and can be considered a form of legacy code. This concept is not limited to AI-generated code, but also applies to human-written code that is complex or unfamiliar, where the developer may not fully comprehend its functionality. The spectrum of vibe code is continuous, and understanding is often a trade-off between speed and clarity. AI summary
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The article discusses how "vibe code" is essentially legacy code, characterized by a lack of understanding and acceptance by the developer, and is a continuous spectrum rather than a binary concept, with even professional developers occasionally writing "vibe code" when using AI assistance. AI summary
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The author, a mother of two months, reflects on the vastly different experience of parenthood from her pre-baby self, highlighting the emotional weight and existential delight of holding a newborn, and how it surpasses her previous accomplishments. She shares her journey of self-discovery and growth, from initial doubts to embracing her new role. The author notes that becoming a mother has altered her perspective, allowing her to appreciate the simple joys of life. AI summary
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Maggie Appleton, a blogger, reflects on the dramatic shift in her life following the birth of her son two months prior, where she traded exhaustion and existential joy for a new role as a mother, realizing she was "evolutionarily wired" for this experience. Her pre-baby self doubted motherhood due to systemic inequality and concerns about career sacrifices, but now sees the value in the emotional weight of holding her child. She's now looking forward to re-engaging with the world as her child learns to sleep more predictably. AI summary
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This study from 2001 analyzed data from 1514 healthy pregnant women to estimate the normal duration of human pregnancy, finding that the median time to non-elective delivery is approximately 283 days after the last menstrual period (LMP), with nulliparous women tending to have longer pregnancies. The study also found no significant difference in duration between male and female fetuses. A simple tool based on this data estimates the probability of spontaneous labor at any given day of pregnancy. AI summary
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A 2001 study analyzing 1514 healthy pregnant women found that the median time to spontaneous delivery is approximately 283 days after the last menstrual period (LMP), with a significant difference in duration between nulliparous and multiparous women. The study also identified associations between bleeding before 24 weeks of gestation and an earlier onset of spontaneous labor. AI summary
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