As technology like AI progresses and evolves in its capabilities, it’s easy to brush off what it can really mean with a quick “Skynet from Terminator is finally here” joke.
However, analysts are already concerned that such innovations, like the rise of AI agents, could upend the way we browse online forever by making the internet go dark.
As the boom of generative AI enters its third year, 2025 is said to be that of AI agents.
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The name “AI agents” essentially does what the name implies and so much more.
As well as generally being able to interact with its users as personal assistants, AI agents are said to be capable of doing full research, assembling information, and even being able to put together content in anticipation of the user’s needs before even being asked.
While generative AI isn’t quite there yet, tech analysts like Bernstein's Mark Shmulik and Nikhil Devnani can’t help but already address concerns towards a future that may be closer than we already thought.
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They said: "If AI agents truly become useful, the internet will go dark."
While the necessity of websites and apps won’t change, the existence of AI agents could mean that users will no longer interact with these directly.
Instead, their digital agents will act as digital aggregators, digging for information through multiple sources and assembling it on their behalf in a quicker time.
In fact, these AI assistants would be so efficient, they’d be more effectively referred to as "the aggregator of the aggregators”, as the analysts also put.
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If such applications of AI technology gain traction in this way, “this. Changes. Everything”. They further stated. That’s because as time goes, the “aggregators get disaggregated, and much of consumer internet may be structural shorts.”
Various industries have been affected by AI, some less severely than others, but this change would make it so that, effectively, as the analysts say, “there’s nowhere to hide”.
On the other hand, there would be undoubted benefits from a consumer perspective.
For example, instead of manually comparing the prices of ridesharing services like Uber and Lyft to find a trip to the airport, an AI agent would make the customer journey far simpler by removing the need to Google anything — with digital assistants assessing all options and delivering the best choice in a matter of seconds.
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As another insight from the Bernstein analysts put, however, this would mean that “The aggregators have control over the supply…”, meaning companies and their customers will be at the behest of their digital services.
Although we’re not quite at this point technologically just yet, well-known tech companies have already laid the groundwork with the unveiling of their own AI agent systems.
For example, OpenAI announced Operator that utilizes a web browser for making travel arrangements and buying products. Google, seemingly wanting to get a jump on the next stage of the AI boom, unveiled Project Mariner — their own AI agent that can perform feats for users like browsing the internet and filling out forms for users.
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On the other hand, any technological predictions are always open to not panning out as originally thought. For all we know, Elon Musk’s Neuralink technology could succeed in the implementation of AI brain chips as the way forward.
As with anything when it comes to evolution in this type of industry, only time will tell.