An interface can be a powerful narrative device. And as we collect more and more personally and socially relevant data, we have an opportunity, and maybe even an obligation, to maintain [our] humanity and tell some amazing stories.

Koblin frames “interface” not as a neutral layer of buttons and screens but as a storytelling medium that shapes how people understand complex systems. The quote links the rise of personally and socially meaningful data (from individual traces to collective patterns) with an ethical responsibility: designers and artists should present data in ways that preserve empathy, dignity, and human scale rather than reducing people to metrics. The “obligation” suggests that as data grows more intimate and consequential, narrative choices—what is shown, how it is framed, and what is left out—become moral choices. Done well, interfaces can turn abstraction into insight and foster connection through “amazing stories.”