Podcast Summary: AI & I — “We Made a Document Editor Where Humans and AI Work Side by Side”

Host: Dan Shipper
Guests: Brandon, Kieran, Naveen, Austin
Date: March 11, 2026

Episode Overview

This special episode marks the public launch of “Proof,” a live, collaborative web-based document editor designed for seamless, side-by-side collaboration between humans and AI agents. The conversation delves deep into the product’s origins, design philosophy, technical evolution, and real-world use cases within the team at Every. The group, consisting of founders and power users from Every and Quora, explores how Proof is fundamentally changing both creative and business workflows by making AI-native collaboration frictionless, transparent, and intuitive.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Origins & Evolution of “Proof”

• Genesis of the Idea

  • Proof originated as a response to changing writing workflows driven by AI, with a need to clearly distinguish human vs. AI-generated text and make collaboration efficient ([04:12]).
  • Dan describes the predecessor, Lex, as an early attempt to blend writing and AI, but Proof takes a more collaborative, agent-native approach.

  “The original idea for Proof is like, we needed a good way to tell what was human written, what was AI written, but also how much thought went into everything. And what do you actually stand behind versus not...”
  — Dan Shipper ([05:20])

• From Mac App to Web App

  • The initial Mac version tracked AI vs. human provenance (purple vs. green gutters) but lacked the key killer feature: easy sharing and multi-user/agent collaboration.
  • The web version allows real-time, multi-user editing, comments, and agent participation, resulting in rapid, broad adoption inside Every ([07:24]-[08:12]).

  “...when you made it a web app and you made it collaborative, basically every single one of us started doing everything in there.”
  — Kieran ([07:58])

The “Agent Native” Philosophy

• Agent Native vs. User Native

  • Proof is built on an “agent native” philosophy: optimizing the experience for AI agents as active participants rather than passive tools ([09:22]).
  • Internal and external agent integrations are both valid; most value comes from agents with personal context (like “claws”).

  “AX is just as important as UX in this new world. And AX is just agent experience versus user experience.”
  — Dan Shipper ([17:04])

• Design Simplicity and Frictionless Onboarding

  • One of Proof’s strengths is its ultra-low friction for both humans and agents (e.g., sharing links, no logins necessary) ([17:04]-[18:36]).
  • It can be leveraged without prior “skills”—just copy-paste a link into an agent, and it can start contributing.

Real-World Use Cases & Impact

• Creative & Business Workflows

  • Writing plans, project documentation, marketing agendas, and personal creative writing all benefit from clear attribution of human/AI contributions ([02:00], [23:36], [34:44]).

  “...using my agents and proof to get here, one, speeds up creative writing for me, and two, I think does make it stronger and better and easier and I love that.”
  — Brandon ([00:12], echoed again at [36:14])

• Transparency and Trust

  • The color-coded sidebar (green for humans, purple for AI) quickly shows origin, building trust in collaborative docs ([14:03], [18:36]).

• Iterative, Agile Planning

  • Plans are lightweight, disposable, and easy to revise; teams make, debate, and discard them rapidly, supported by AI agent participation ([12:33], [14:03]).

• Collaboration Loops

  • Example: Kieran uses agents (Codex, R2) to draft plans, get agent/human feedback, revise, and submit changes, all within Proof ([29:11]-[32:14]).

  “That is like just sort of a loop that is kind of on repeat now at Every: you make a plan, send that plan to the product owner’s agent, the agent does a review, suggests stuff, product owner reviews, gives a thumbs up.”
  — Kieran ([31:44])

• Personal Writing

  • Brandon uses Proof for newsletter drafts, mixing ideas captured via text messages/Runs, outlines, and AI agent drafts ([35:04]).

Collaboration Philosophy & Open Source Direction

• Barebones by Design

  • Proof is intentionally minimalist—no accounts, indexes, or heavyweight organizational features. Documents are meant to be shared, acted on, then discarded or promoted to “official” company tools (e.g., Notion) ([40:12]-[41:16]).
  • Team members debate the possible future of features like a document index without compromising this simplicity.

• Open Source

  • Proof is being launched as open source; anyone can submit PRs or fork it, and it's intended to be dropped into other “agent native” apps ([42:16]-[43:11]).

Notable Quotes & Moments (with Timestamps)

• On the need for collaborative AI-native docs:

  “It became clear that what we needed was a live, collaborative, web based document that humans and agents could be in at the same time...”
  — Dan Shipper ([00:00])

• Transition from Mac to web & product fit:

  “When you made it a web app and you made it collaborative ... every single one of us started doing everything in there.”
  — Kieran ([07:58])

• On agent-native design:

  “AX is just as important as UX in this new world. AX is just agent experience vs user experience.”
  — Dan Shipper ([17:04])

• Frictionless sharing drives adoption:

  “You can just immediately share this with an agent without logging in, creating accounts, anything. That is very good.”
  — Naveen ([18:03])

• Creative writing use case:

  “I love proof as someone who writes about food each week... I can see what it wrote versus what I wrote for me...”
  — Brandon ([23:36], also elaborated at [36:14])

• Agent collaboration loops:

  “That is like just sort of a loop that is kind of on repeat now at Every: you make a plan, send that plan to the product owner’s agent, the agent does a review, suggests stuff...”
  — Kieran ([31:44])

• Minimalism as strength:

  “It’s like a sketch pad ... where I brainstorm ... and then I text it to you, or you send something to me, and you can kind of share thoughts or nuggets with each other. I like it for that a lot.”
  — Naveen ([37:07])

• On what Proof is and isn’t:

  “Proof's job is not to organize documents. Proof's job is to communicate about writing and about ideas and about where it comes from.”
  — Naveen ([39:55])

• Open source vision:

  “Ideally you can integrate this into whatever app you want to build ... it could just be a good example of this is what you can make and how you might want to architect things if you're vibe coding.”
  — Dan Shipper ([42:27])

Important Demonstration & Feature Walkthrough

• Live Demo of Proof Editor ([14:03]-[18:36])
  • Dan demonstrates starting a document, inviting AI agents, and seeing live contributions appear with color-coded provenance.
  • Example of sharing with no login, adding agents by link, and seamless human/AI editing.

Reflections on the Future

• Rethinking Writing & Collaboration

  • The convergence of human and AI authorship is changing not only team processes, but also the philosophy and social meaning of writing and document authorship ([26:41]-[29:11]).
  • The team wrestles with who is the intended “reader”—humans or agents—and when each is best suited.

• Protecting what’s special about writing

  • Creative and high-value writing remains a human core domain; informational and ephemeral content is often best handled by agents ([28:30]).
  • AI-native tools expand the spectrum of what collaboration and authorship can mean.

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [00:00] Product need—collaborative, agent-human doc editor
• [04:12] Origin story of Proof and earlier attempts
• [07:24] Mac app vs. web app and accelerating product fit
• [09:22] Building agent-native: internal vs. external integration
• [14:03] Demo of Proof—creating/joining docs, agent collaboration
• [17:04] AX (Agent Experience) and frictionless design
• [23:36] Brandon's creative writing use case & agent provenance
• [29:11] Kieran’s summary of collaborative planning & agent feedback
• [36:14] How Proof influences creative workflows
• [40:12] Barebones, intentional minimalism
• [42:16] Open source vision and developer integration

Final Thoughts

Proof is more than a document editor: it represents a new, fluid mode of collaboration where humans and AI co-create, iterate, and transparently track authorship—all with ultra-low friction. The team’s real-world stories highlight how such tools are both pragmatically useful and subtly reshaping notions of digital work, authorship, and creative flow.

Proof is open source and free to use: ProofEditor AI.