Why Are We Obsessed With Virtual Assistants? (Figma's Config 2025)

I had the opportunity to listen to John Lewenstein of Anthropic give a talk at Figma’s Config event in early May 2025 in San Francisco. He talked about the use of metaphors and how important they are when we (as humans) are trying to understand complex topics during transitions. That’s why so many people use terms like “co-pilot” or “assistant” or “agent” to explain how genAI is helping us in our jobs day-to-day. 

He raised the question of (my words - not his), “why are we choosing such mundane personifications of this technology? Why not creative partners?” Throughout his talk he challenged our thinking about how we might use AI. 

Here are a few of my takeaways: 

1. Let’s use our imaginations around “who” AI becomes. Let’s be more thoughtful about how we use technology to enhance our lives. I don’t wake up most mornings (any morning) and wish I had an assistant. I do appreciate the Superpowers the technology gives me to create images and bring my stories to life. I wouldn’t call that an assistant - more of a creative partner.

2. The technology is quickly evolving - let’s imagine how we’ll use future versions. Today’s genAI tools (those using reasoning models) are increasingly becoming collaboration partners. We’re still primarily using these tools in a back and forth manner. We don’t interrupt one another’s work or sentences like we would a human partner. How might we work with a powerful entity “live.”

3. “Knowing me” or personalization will take on new meaning. Historically, personalization has leaned on demographic or behavioral information as well as our preferences. Now the tools will want to understand our writing styles, audiences (you can’t tune this in word processing apps - yet), values, risk profiles, emotions, and much more. How these tools will do that is a design challenge yet to be cracked.

4. Our tools or virtual “whatevers” should grow and evolve with us. Friendships and relationships evolve over time. We get to know our friends and co-workers. We also grow as individuals. We mature. We learn new skills. If we are going to have virtual creative partners or helpers or assistants, they should be able to do the same. 

I had the opportunity to attend Figma’s North American Config event in San Francisco last week. I’ve had the opportunity to attend several times. I appreciate the breadth of creative and technical superstars they put on stage. They do use their keynotes and other sessions to talk about their product releases (naturally), and they offer up a breadth of other sessions that lead to personal and professional development. Loved the story-telling and upcycling sessions. 

A huge shout-out to my friend and former colleague, Andrew Hogan. He led a study on the use of AI in design and development of products. So many studies are very generic i.e., lack an industry or role focus. Andrew and Figma go deep here on their core audience and are gracious enough to share the results. I took the most away from the portion on use of AI within workflows. 

Last note - Holli Li - fantastic on the big stage. I would go see her talk again regardless of topic.