Disposable Artifacts for Short-Lived AI Collaboration
A temporary interactive workspace can give someone and an AI agent a place to work together without needing to save everything as a permanent document.
Developed from a conversation between Pete Winn and Andy David
Pete built Rick’s Artifacts as a container for small HTML and JavaScript tools that can be created for individual tasks. When he wanted to draft a letter, he made an editor where he could try three versions, return to an earlier one and keep reshaping the text directly on screen.
The agent can read what’s on screen, generate alternatives, add new versions and remove versions that are no longer useful. Pete can edit the text directly, add images and attach comments to anything on screen. Rather than describing changes back and forth in chat, Pete can work directly on the letter while the agent creates and revises alternative versions.
Some of these tools only need to exist for a few hours. The letter might matter for the next half hour or two while Pete and the agent compare drafts, but it doesn’t need to become a persistent Flight Deck document once the work is done. Pete can use the editor for as long as it’s useful, then discard it rather than adding another document to maintain.