From Generative AI to Generative UI: Rethinking How We Interact with Intelligent Systems
Generative AI is having its moment—and then some. Spending on generative AI applications is projected to reach $58 billion by 2028, according to Omdia. Yet despite the booming investment, actual adoption is lagging behind. Deloitte research reveals that nearly 70% of organizations have moved less than a third of their generative AI projects beyond the pilot phase. The technology is promising, but there’s still a disconnect between what’s being built and what users are ready to embrace.
One of the key reasons for this gap is user experience. While generative AI is capable of producing content—text, images, or insights—the way that content is delivered still often feels like a standard search result or static response. In other words, we’re relying on yesterday’s interfaces to present tomorrow’s capabilities. That’s where the concept of generative UI comes in. If generative AI represents a shift in how machines create, generative UI represents a shift in how users interact with those creations.
Generative UI goes beyond just producing results—it contextualizes them. It adapts the interface dynamically based on user intent and the type of information being requested. For example, when a user searches using vague or exploratory language—“movies like Inception” or “comfortable black sneakers under $100”—a generative UI can adjust the output, showing video previews, images, or comparison grids rather than just a list of links or chat bubbles. It’s about elevating usability, not just output quality.
To bring generative UI to life, developers must tightly integrate LLMs and data sources with frontend frameworks like React, often using React Server Components to adapt content delivery in real time. Depending on the request, the UI might rely on static rendering for prebuilt results or dynamic rendering for live, personalized responses. In both cases, the ability to flex the format and flow of content based on user behavior is critical. The future of AI apps won’t just be intelligent—they’ll be intuitive, responsive, and deeply attuned to how we naturally seek, understand, and act on information.