Tim Berners-Lee, the visionary behind the World Wide Web, voiced a compelling perspective at the Future AI Summit. He highlighted that the ascent of generative artificial intelligence has the potential to dismantle the advertising-driven model that currently underpins the internet economy. In this evolving landscape, large language models could take over the role of human consumers in engaging with internet content. Users, in turn, might prefer to directly extract information from these intelligent models. If AI emerges as the primary "reader" of web pages, the revenue generated from online advertising is poised to take a substantial hit. Such a decline would pose a severe threat to the existing framework of the internet economy. This projection is not without basis. Financial reports from tech behemoths like Google and Meta already hint at this emerging trend. As user interaction patterns shift towards AI, the disruption of the current ecosystem seems inevitable. Against this backdrop, Berners-Lee urged the industry and policymakers to proactively seek out novel network values and business models. He pointed out that the internet is gradually morphing into a structure where a handful of corporate giants monopolize vast swathes of data, posing challenges to innovation and fairness. His call to action underscores the need for a more inclusive and sustainable digital future.
