当我们什么都能做，还知道自己想做什么吗？When We Can Do Anything, Do We Still Know What We Want? — Ryo Lu, ex-Cursor

AI Engineer · 23 min · 330 sentences · from YouTube's caption track

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00:03Next up is Ryo.
00:03He was a founding engineer at Cursor.
00:11Please welcome him.
00:11Designer, sorry, designer.
00:11Welcome, Ryo.
00:16You'll want this one.
00:19The handheld mic is more fun.
00:25I'm a little nervous.
00:25Go easy on me.
00:30OK.
00:39Hi, I'm Ryo.
00:41My talk today is called “When we can do anything, do we still know what we want?”
00:45Let's get started.
00:52To start: our tools are stronger.
00:52Why do we feel more uneasy?
00:57I won't tell you how impressive AI is.
00:57You've seen it.
01:00You've used it.
01:02A website from one sentence.
01:02A feature in minutes.
01:06You wake up to a whole night's work done for you, including things you hadn't even thought of.
01:14I was excited about that too.
01:14Things I could only imagine, I could finally make.
01:21Maybe you've felt something else too.
01:25Someone makes something with a new model.
01:25Your first reaction is, “Wow, that's amazing!”
01:31Then comes the second one: “Am I falling behind again?”
01:36Everyone seems smarter.
01:36Everyone's getting more done.
01:40A skill you spent years developing now looks like a sentence anyone can type into a box.
01:48And you think, I should do more too.
01:48Learn a few more tools.
01:53Spin up a few more agents.
01:57But if we really can keep this up forever, when is it enough?
02:05I've always believed in making tools.
02:07I designed collaboration tools so people could build their own systems.
02:13Then I designed tools to help anyone make software.
02:16I wanted to close the gap between imagination and reality.
02:22I still believe in that.
02:22But as these tools let me do more, something else matters to me.
02:30Do they help me see what I want to make?
02:33Or am I just trying to keep up?
02:38I'm not here to debate whether to use AI, or tell you that slow is always better.
02:45When we can do anything, do we still know what we want?
02:52And with tools this powerful, how do we keep developing our own judgment, figuring out what we care about, and living our own lives?
03:03Part one.
03:03Before making things became proof of who we are.
03:09A lot of that anxiety comes from a habit.
03:12We use what we can do to prove who we are.
03:18I'm a designer because I know design.
03:20I'm an engineer because I can write code by hand.
03:25So when a machine can do those things too, my job is only part of the worry.
03:30There's a more personal question.
03:33If what I do isn't special anymore, what's special about me?
03:39I don't have a neat answer.
03:41But I remember how I felt about computers before any of this became my job.
03:49When I moved to Canada as a kid, I saw that Apple computer with a screen that seemed to float.
03:54How could something be that beautiful?
03:58I couldn't afford one, so I made my own computer look like it.
04:02Changed the icons and fonts.
04:04Figured out how to make those buttons you wanted to lick.
04:09I wasn't trying to become a designer.
04:09I liked it.
04:09I was curious.
04:14I wanted a closer look, to see if I could make something feel that way too.
04:21Eventually that became my job.
04:21I was lucky.
04:25I could make a living doing something I cared about and meet people who cared about it too.
04:33Then curiosity turned into planning.
04:33Play turned into output.
04:37Taste turned into decisions I had to make on other people's behalf.
04:44You get good at answering: What's it worth?
04:46When can we ship?
04:49But do you remember why you wanted to make it before anyone asked you to?
04:57I don't take comfort in saying, “A machine could never do that.”
05:01That line keeps moving.
05:05What I want to hold on to is my own relationship with making things.
05:11I shouldn't have to prove I'm better than anyone else to keep doing what I love.
05:18A machine can make ten versions in no time.
05:21I can still stop at one detail and think, “That feels off.
05:25I want to fix it myself.”
05:28I can't always put that feeling into words right away.
05:32But it's closer to what I really want to make than thinking, “I should be doing more.”
05:38So my question is, are these tools skipping over that whole process too quickly?
05:46Part two.
05:46A complete answer doesn't mean I've thought it through.
05:51Say I ask, “Make me a tool to record my day.”
05:57Two minutes later, it says, “Done.
05:59Take a look.”
06:03Here's the journal it made.
06:04It even explains why I need each feature.
06:08Mood scores help me spot trends.
06:11Daily reminders help me build a habit.
06:14Weekly reports help me reflect.
06:17Sounds reasonable.
06:17I'd probably say, “Sure.
06:17Let's go with that.”
06:23But hang on.
06:23Have I really thought about why my life needs a score?
06:30Did I decide that keeping a journal means writing every day?
06:35Or was its explanation of what others do so complete that I mistook it for my own understanding?
06:44That's what worries me.
06:44Sometimes I don't form an opinion of my own before I ask the tool for help.
06:51I see what it says first.
06:51I can't think of an objection, so I go with it.
06:58The answer might be right.
06:59It might even be better than anything I'd imagined.
07:04But if I do that every time, I may get good at judging whether something sounds reasonable, while getting less and less practice thinking a problem through from my own experience.
07:16Having an answer doesn't mean I've finished thinking.
07:21An obvious mistake is easy to spot.
07:23What's harder to see are the questions a complete answer covers up before we've even had a chance to ask them.
07:32Let's try something.
07:32Look at this journal.
07:32For a moment, set aside what features it might be missing.
07:40Mood scores, writing streaks, daily reminders, weekly reports.
07:45Which one would you take out?
07:52Hands up if you'd drop mood scores.
07:56Writing streaks?
08:00Daily reminders?
08:04And weekly reports?
08:07I'd probably drop the streaks, the daily reminders, and the weekly reports.
08:13Miss one day, and I'd feel like I owed somebody.
08:18I want to record my life.
08:18I don't want homework.
08:23Maybe you're the opposite.
08:24That reminder is exactly what you need.
08:26Maybe keeping a streak matters to you.
08:31Or maybe it's all wrong.
08:32You want an infinite canvas to arrange memories and bits of your life however you like.
08:39No right answer here.
08:43All we did was pause.
08:43But something happened in that pause.
08:47We picked out one decision, noticed we felt something about it, and started to say why.
08:55That vague idea, “I want to record my life,” finally started taking on a shape of its own.
09:03You don't always have to know what you want before you start.
09:08Sometimes you find out by making it.
09:14Part three.
09:14A service counter and a workbench.
09:19So how can our tools help?
09:23I'd hate to say you have to puzzle through everything first or you're being lazy.
09:30Some jobs I genuinely want to hand off.
09:30Move the data.
09:33Convert the file.
09:33I don't need a lesson every time.
09:38Some things I'm still figuring out.
09:41I want a tool that lets me keep exploring, rather than one that closes the question for me.
09:49Compare these two screens.
09:51The one on the left is like a service counter.
09:56It processes my request and hands me a new version.
09:59If it happens to be good, great.
09:59I'll use it.
10:04But if it removes a reminder I like or changes the design, I have to explain again what to keep and what to drop.
10:12If all I see is the finished product, my choices boil down to accept, reject, or explain it again.
10:21The one on the right is more like a workbench.
10:21Same request, but I can see what it's planning to change, which features it'll remove, or what it wants to suggest.
10:36Seeing that makes me think: wait.
10:38Maybe I want to keep that reminder.
10:42I can step into the plan before it starts.
10:42Once it's done, I can fine-tune the result in a live preview.
10:51There's more to the difference than a few extra buttons.
10:51Here, I can put my hands on the thing I'm changing.
10:59I can step inside instead of waiting for an answer.
11:03Sometimes I only realize I want that reminder when I see it's about to disappear.
11:09Sometimes I try my own design and realize the layout won't work.
11:14Or I can think it through before I run the plan.
11:20The tool helps me discover what I think.
11:23I don't have to explain the idea perfectly at the start.
11:27That's why, when I design software, I care about files, plans, edits, what changed between versions, and where a person can step in.
11:39Nobody should have to read every line of code.
11:42Showing every detail isn't the only way to be transparent.
11:47What matters is that when I want to understand something, there's a way in.
11:51When I want to change it, I can.
11:57Chat can be part of a workbench too.
11:59I wouldn't put one interface or one brand permanently on either side.
12:06The question is: for this particular task, can I change just one part?
12:11Can I see why a decision was made?
12:11Can I take back control?
12:16Does the interface give me room to think and explore?
12:22I want tools that involve me more.
12:24I don't need proof they can do without me.
12:29If you build tools too, here are three small places to start.
12:35First, make important assumptions visible.
12:38Make each change small enough to try.
12:41Let people take back a task they've handed off.
12:47Second, you don't need a confirmation button at every step.
12:50Show people they have more choices than accepting or rejecting the whole answer.
12:57Third, remove the obstacles.
13:00Leave people the chance to form their own judgment along the way.
13:06Part four.
13:06It's always there.
13:06Do I always need it?
13:13Even at a great workbench, you don't have to spend your life sitting there.
13:20We're still figuring out what kind of relationship we want with AI.
13:25It can help me think.
13:25Or I can stop thinking for myself.
13:30It can save me time, then give me more reasons to fill it right back up.
13:37A better tool still can't tell me how to use it.
13:43Take email.
13:43Having it doesn't mean there's an email to send about everything, any time of day.
13:49Some things are worth writing down.
13:49Some are better face to face.
13:53Some can wait for a reply.
13:56Sometimes nobody needs one more email.
14:01The tool is always there.
14:02When to use it and what to use it for are still our choices.
14:06AI is the same.
14:10Sometimes I want speed.
14:10Help me sort through a complicated job.
14:15Sometimes I want to write a few lines myself first.
14:19They might be terrible.
14:19I want to see what's in my head.
14:24Sometimes I've had enough analysis.
14:26What I need is to go have tea with that person and actually talk.
14:32None of these choices is more virtuous.
14:35I want to keep my reasons for choosing differently.
14:39Leaving San Francisco and moving to Taipei was partly a way of practicing that.
14:46I still wanted to make things.
14:47I just didn't want to explain everything in my life in terms of whether it helped my work.
14:56Stepping out of my old routine didn't immediately make me sure of myself.
15:01With an empty calendar, I had to ask myself every day: what do I want to do?
15:08If I can't introduce myself by my job, who am I?
15:13I started to feel that time could be worthwhile even if it produced nothing right away.
15:19Talking to another person.
15:19A street I've never walked down.
15:23A song I keep replaying.
15:26Any of them can remind me I still care about something.
15:30That feeling is mine.
15:35Life and creative work aren't competing.
15:37Squeezing life out won't leave you with more creativity.
15:41Life gives me things I want to make.
15:46So what do I hope these tools give us in the end?
15:50More than maximizing output, I want more time to care for other people and the world that we live in.
16:01I don't want to turn caring into another score to maximize.
16:05I mean giving time and attention to the person in front of you.
16:10Having room to understand something you haven't figured out yet.
16:13Being able to do something about what you care about.
16:19Part five.
16:19Beyond getting better on our own: playing together.
16:24Caring about the world also means letting someone else into my thinking.
16:31Back to our journal.
16:31We changed one decision.
16:34It's closer to the journal I want now, but why would it be the one you want?
16:41Here's a simple page for each day, with all the extras stripped out.
16:43Or it could be a scrapbook: an open canvas with little fragments of memory.
16:52Which of these two would you rather use?
16:56Daily pages make a particular day easy to revisit.
17:00A freeform canvas brings memories from different times together.
17:05We don't have to pick a winner.
17:05We can keep both versions.
17:09We could even put them together.
17:13Find someone who picked the other one.
17:13Ask them why.
17:18Now we have more than a finished product.
17:20We have something that helps us understand each other.
17:26We both say, “I want to record my life,” and think we mean the same thing.
17:29Then we see these two versions, and realize we're trying to hold on to different things.
17:39That's how a lot of my judgment at work took shape.
17:41Sitting alone didn't get me there.
17:43Someone tried what I'd made and said it felt odd.
17:47Someone insists on a detail I think is trivial.
17:50Someone takes apart an idea I was sure about.
17:53That's how I see what I missed.
17:57That can be uncomfortable.
17:58Working together means misunderstandings and disagreements.
18:02You apologize and try again.
18:06It's also where a lot of relationships I treasure began.
18:11People have seen me confused, wrong, exhausted.
18:13They've also seen me genuinely excited.
18:17Over time you learn who spots the things you miss, and who can take an idea apart without killing it.
18:27It's like a jazz band.
18:27Nobody's trying to play the most notes.
18:31Nobody needs to prove they're the best player.
18:35One person carries the melody.
18:35Somebody else listens, leaves a little space, then comes in.
18:42Lose the beat?
18:42You listen to each other and find it again.
18:47What comes out is something none of you had in mind beforehand, and none of you could have made alone.
18:55AI is convenient.
18:55It's patient.
18:58Often it's easier than talking to another person.
19:02Sometimes that really does help me.
19:02I want to acknowledge that.
19:07If I always choose whoever responds to me most easily, I worry about what I'm missing: the chance to get in sync with someone different from me.
19:18I hope our tools don't lock each of us inside a more efficient little world.
19:25I don't need a world that just responds better to me.
19:28I want a world that can change me.
19:33Tools let me do things I couldn't do alone.
19:37Other people make things possible that I never would have thought of.
19:45The final act.
19:45You can start making things before you know who you are.
19:51So back to today's question.
19:51When we can do anything, do we still know what we want?
19:54My answer is still: not necessarily.
20:01But I don't think that means there's something missing in us.
20:05And we don't need to find some grand mission before we can begin.
20:10Sometimes finding yourself has little to do with suddenly knowing how to introduce yourself.
20:18It happens in little choices.
20:18You find yourself thinking: this is what I care about.
20:24This part I won't take as it comes.
20:24That part?
20:27I'd like to spend more time on it.
20:31Like just now.
20:31We didn't write a product spec first.
20:34We saw a version, felt something was off, changed it, and found out what we wanted.
20:41Making things gives you a way to express who you are.
20:45It also lets you meet parts of yourself you didn't know.
20:52To me, finding yourself and going beyond yourself go together.
20:57Making things shows you what you care about.
21:00And with tools and other people, you can reach places you couldn't reach before.
21:06That doesn't mean outproducing yesterday's self every day, or turning yourself into a product that always needs an upgrade.
21:14Maybe you can now change something you used to have to accept.
21:20An idea you never dared show anyone can now be a rough prototype you give someone to try.
21:27Maybe you can finally do that one thing you always wanted to do and never thought you could.
21:35If you take one thing away today, I hope it goes beyond trying one more tool.
21:40Next time you see a polished answer, give yourself a moment.
21:40Ask: which decision in here haven't I thought through for myself?
21:51Pick a part you care about.
21:51Try one small change.
21:54If you get a chance, show it to someone else.
22:00You needn't change everything or prove you're better than the machine.
22:05As long as you bring what you feel, what you think, and what you care about to that process, you're doing more than standing by and approving a result.
22:16You're shaping your own life.
22:19I still believe in tools.
22:20I hope they give people who couldn't participate before a chance to express themselves.
22:26I hope we can make things once beyond us.
22:29And we shouldn't have to hand over our whole lives just to keep the system running.
22:36I don't want a tool that lives my life for me.
22:39I want one that helps me feel things more clearly, explore freely, and care for the world around me, make things with others that we couldn't make before, and slowly find my way back to myself.
22:56Thank you.
22:59Thank you, everyone.