"Dream, Dream, Dream! Conduct these dreams into thoughts, and then transform them into action."
- Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
19 Mar 2024
While employed at the Swiss particle physics research site CERN in 1989, Berners-Lee is recognized for having invented the technology that changed the world. We now have personal artificial intelligence aides that know our health status and legal background inside out. We experience the freedom to move data without encountering any difficulties from one location to another. On the eve of the World Wide Web's 35th anniversary, here are just a few of the forecasts Tim Berners-Lee made regarding its future. Berners-Lee recognizes various drawbacks that have occurred in the decades after the invention of the web. He claims that among other things, social media feeds, customized by AI algorithms have left users "feeling angry and upset, or hateful." He continues, saying that people and companies have been "disempowered" by the ease with which material can be created on social media platforms and new websites and blogs, as well as by the loss of ownership over our data. However, Berners-Lee remains somewhat optimistic about the future. These are a few of his more optimistic forecasts over the next 35 years on the state of the web.
First prediction: Everybody will own a personal AI Assistance ~
( Source: Google Images )
One of Berners-Lee's major hypotheses is that artificial intelligence will change how humans use the internet. Tech companies are wagering that when generative AI technologies like Microsoft-backed OpenAI's ChatGPT become more widely available, users will interact with digital chatbots much more to obtain information, create written content, and even write code. Several companies are already attempting to rethink how we will connect with the internet using AI-powered gadgets. Examples include Samsung, which has the Galaxy S24 smartphone, and Humane AI, a U.S. business, which has the wearable Pin device.
According to Berners-Lee, ''We will eventually have AI assistants who work for us, just like our bankers, physicians, and attorneys.'' The worldwide chief technology officer of Akamai, Robert Blumofe, expressed his belief that artificial intelligence (AI) agents will eventually take over and utilize the internet instead of humans. You may see a future in which artificial intelligence (AI) bots rule the web and humans are unable to use it efficiently. You wouldn't be able to access your bank account, health provider, or any e-commerce websites directly online; instead, everything would be handled by AI agents.
In early 1995, Berners-Lee challenged the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop a new method of getting online material to the end consumers more quickly, and that challenge inspired the founding of Akamai. Blumofe still thinks we’ll go online for entertainment TV shows, movies, and video games. However, he thinks a lot of the daily functions of our online lives will in the future be managed by AI.
Second prediction: We'll genuinely own our data on all platforms, including virtual reality ~
( Source: Google Images )
Berners-Lee also sees a web where everyone has complete control over their data. We will therefore be able to own our data through a data repository, or "pod," as opposed to giving our data away to Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, and other tech behemoths. According to Berners-Lee, "You'll think of your data pod as your digital space, you'll think of it as one thing you're very comfortable with."
With his firm, "Inrupt," Berners-Lee is developing a technology called pods.
The Solid protocol, which "aims to radically change the way Web applications work today, resulting in true data ownership as well as improved privacy," is the brainchild of Inrupt. The company secured $30 million in 2022 from venture capital firms, such as Glasswing Ventures, Akamai, and Forte Ventures.
According to Berners-Lee's vision of the future web, you would be able to access all of your critical apps, such as email, from your digital pod on your phone, laptop, desktop computer, and larger screens, such as TVs. According to Berners-Lee, his concept is for us to have a collection of "trust apps" that we may enable to interact with one another to share information and do critical activities considerably more quickly. Consider purchasing airfares as an example. According to Berners-Lee, the future of the web will allow you to buy flights using your wallet from a flight aggregator and then provide it with the data you want it to use to schedule your activities when you get there. "Your entire to-do list, calendar events, and so forth, along with all the various components of your data, will come together, making it much easier for you to live your life." The chief technology officer of software company Cisco in the United Kingdom, Chintan Patel, stated that he believes the web will eventually shift to a more open space where information may be exchanged more readily.
Third Prediction: A large tech business may split up ~
( Source: Google Images )
Berners-Lee also mentions the possibility of a major tech business being compelled to dissolve in the future. The Commission has the authority to order the dissolution of corporations in very severe circumstances, but most antitrust attorneys believe this is unlikely given the potential legal challenges Brussels may face. According to Berners-Lee, he always favors it when computer businesses "make the right decision on their own" without government intervention. "The internet has always been like that." He cites the Data Transfer movement as an example, which is a private movement to promote the portability of images, movies, and other data between platforms. It was started in 2018 and is now supported by companies like Google, Apple, and Meta. According to Berners-Lee, "perhaps the companies were somewhat prompted by the possibility of regulation." "However, this was a standalone item." "We don't know which company that will be, but maybe agencies will have to work to break up big companies at some point in the future," Berners-Lee remarked.