UX benchmark for AI | Being mentioned in AI answers drives subsequent user behavior | Cheaper character design workflow for new video | AI maturity model | My hero: Dr. Stuart K. Card of Xerox PARC | Microsoft FDE

Halfway through 2026, AI is evolving faster than expected, but usability is struggling to keep pace. I graded my 18 predictions on autonomous agents, compute shortages, and interface design to separate the hype from reality.

Can humans remain in control with superintelligent AI (ASI)? | Dark design music video redone | What are normal people saying about AI? | My hero: Dr. John M. Carroll of IBM Research | Finally, a hotel room shower makes it easy to adjust temperature | How designers use AI vs. what they say about AI | Explosive growth in use of agentic AI among non-developers | Check whether major AI models know you

AI is too large to understand through a single analogy. The Internet explains early adoption, human history explains the next 30 years, biology frames longer-term speculation, and Norse mythology reminds us that tools are not gods.

Dark design patterns | 8 usage patterns for ecommerce search | Search engine traffic drops rapidly | AI overcomes “The Mythical Man-Month” | AI does well in UI design vs. human designers | The story of Ada, Countess of Lovelace | Scenario for European AI until 2031 | Virtual girlfriends/boyfriends rack up double the use of dating apps | Job openings for data visualization design

DeepMind outlined 4 paths to superintelligence: scaling, paradigm shifts, recursive self-improvement, and multi agent collectives. I explained this dense 57-page report in a 31-page comic book, including a section on the UX implications.