GRIT

GRIT is a collection of physical objects that explores productive friction in AI chatbot interaction. By introducing moments of pause, scarcity, and movement, the project encourages more deliberate engagement while helping users hold onto their own critical thinking. Through physical interaction, GRIT makes AI tangible and reframes what it means to use AI responsibly.

Through questioning, scarcity, and movement, Challenger, Deliberator, and Seeker each explore a different form of productive friction. Challenger replaces answers with questions, returning the work of reasoning to the user. Deliberator transforms prompting from an automatic reflex into a considered decision, while Seeker creates space for curiosity and wandering thought before responding. Together, they question whether the role of technology should always be to remove effort, or whether moments of resistance and pause might be essential for preserving human agency.