Parts of Speech: Reimagining Computing Through Verbs

Harvard GSD

Every interface is built from actions. We boot, click, swipe, friend, and cancel; each verb carries a history and a worldview about who and what computing is for. With large language models (LLMs) and text-to-form tools, a word can call a world into being in seconds, so choosing how to order a few letters is also a way of building one. Shouting in ALL CAPS breaks into more tokens, so it costs more to compute. The words a designer reaches for carry real weight, now measured in energy and…