- Photographs are static documents that capture a moment, while artifacts are interactive and explorable, like a reef vs. a photo.
- Bret Victor has long advocated for explorable explanations—interactive documents that let users manipulate parameters and explore concepts in real time.
- Artifacts are self-contained HTML/JavaScript files that can be created quickly with AI, enabling new forms of communication like interactive PR reviews, game prototypes, and explorable explanations.
- The cost of creating artifacts has dropped dramatically, making them a new medium for communication, similar to how photography or blogging became cheap and widespread.
- Artifact Land is a proposed social platform for sharing, discovering, and remixing artifacts, where users bring their own AI agents (e.g., Claude Code) to create content.
- The 'bring your own agent' model separates AI inference from the platform, allowing users to leverage their own context and budget, focusing the platform on discovery and social features.