Control & The AI Driven Web
We’re now in the era of the AI driven web.
We don’t choose what we see on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google, Netflix and most other corporate networks.
Their AI chooses for us...Or at least it makes a strong recommendation.
Recent AI breakthroughs are accelerating this trend.
But they’ve also created an opportunity to change who controls the web.
I see 3 potential paths forward:
Path 1: The Corporate Network Path
This path takes us further down the path we are already on.
On this path, corporate networks will dominate even more of our digital lives than they do today.
This path will not be all bad.
These networks already own most of our digital data.
This fact, combined with more powerful AI, will allow them to provide us with highly personalized experiences.
And those experiences will come primarily from interfaces we already use.
But many people believe these networks are already too powerful.
And this path makes them much more so.
This path also means our data will be siloed across many different AI interfaces.
On the one hand this is a good thing.
The competition between networks to own our data is a check on their power.
But this also comes at an extreme cost....
Imagine you could have the best personal assistant in the world.
Would you want them to have access to all your information, or just a portion of it?
AI can be the best personal assistant in the world.
But to do so it needs all of our information, and not just a portion of it.
Path 2: The Government Path
On this path we entrust the government with our Data and AI interfaces instead of corporate networks.
This reduces the power that corporate networks hold over our digital lives.
It also unites our data in one place.
If the government is well functioning, this could provide us with significantly more useful AI.
This path also gives the government ultimate control over our digital lives.
And it removes the market mechanism from the most important technology of our time.
This is the path China has chosen.
And many are pushing for the US to take this path as well.
Path 3: The Sovereign Individual Path
On this path we own and control our own AI models, data, and AI Interface.
Just a few years ago this path was basically impossible for the average person.
But now all 3 components are available to anyone:
- Ollama allows anyone to own their own AI models
- Hugging Face allows us to own the data our AI uses.
- OpenWebUI allows us to own our own AI interface.
These tools are also either free or very inexpensive to use.
The downside of this path, is that it currently requires more tech savviness and work than the first two paths.
But the open source community is working overtime to bring down the complexity.
And make the path of the sovereign individual available to everyone, regardless of their technical capabilities.
The Bottom Line
The future of the web is not just a question of technology, but of choice.
The Corporate Network Path promises more of what we already know - personalized digital experiences at the cost of increased corporate power and data silos.
The Government Path takes power from corporations, gives it to the government, and removes data silos.
The Sovereign Individual Path gives us the power and control over our digital lives, but currently comes at the expense of convenience.
The path we choose to take will define the future of the internet and our digital lives.
Choose wisely my friends.
Thanks for reading.
Dave
