The article discusses the advantages of using HTML over Markdown when requesting outputs from AI models like Claude, highlighting how HTML enables richer content including SVG diagrams and interactive widgets. It references Thariq Shihipar's work at Anthropic advocating for this approach and includes practical examples of using HTML for code explanations and PR reviews. The author, Simon Willison, shares his own experiences and plans to experiment more with HTML outputs for technical explanations.
Background
Markdown has been the default format for AI-generated text due to its simplicity and token efficiency, especially under earlier model constraints. However, modern AI models with larger context windows make it feasible to use more expressive formats like HTML.
- Source
- Simon Willison
- Published
- May 9, 2026 at 05:00 AM
- Score
- 7.0 / 10