Tool Shaped Objects

Manidis distinguishes a true tool, which produces external value, from a tool-shaped object, which produces the experience of productivity as its primary function. FarmVille is the canonical example. Notion workspaces qualify. The newest examples are AI agents that generate impressive logs and dashboards while accomplishing little real work.

The danger is not that LLMs are useless — they are not. The danger is that their verbal fluency makes them uniquely effective at simulating tool-shaped behavior, making the line between genuine instrument and elaborate simulacrum invisible.

For SoftMachine, the essay is a discipline. Every product surface should be tested against the tool-shaped-object trap. Does it produce value, or does it produce the feeling of producing value?