Google’s move towards AI-generated search results, replacing the traditional list of links, is reshaping the internet and could hasten the decline of the 30±year-old World Wide Web. This shift makes online life more convenient but potentially less vibrant.
Google has been increasing its AI-generated results since late 2022, and recently announced the rollout of “AI Overviews” in the U.S. This means many queries will be answered with AI-written paragraphs, which still rely on web-based information but don’t direct users to the creators of that information.
Publishers and retailers fear this will significantly reduce their referral traffic and harm their businesses. Moreover, by discouraging human contributions to the web’s collective knowledge pool, Google’s summary answers could leave AI tools with less accurate, less timely, and less interesting information.
At Google’s I/O event, VP Rose Yao demonstrated Google Lens’ ability to interpret images from live smartphone video, showing the efficiency of AI. However, this raises questions about why people would contribute their expertise if their posts don’t get visited and instead become fodder for AI.
The web exists today because millions of people have spent decades extending it with bits of knowledge, lore, and images. If Google answers most questions using a single AI voice, there’s less incentive for anyone to share their expertise and creativity on the web.
Google’s AI does offer citations and traditional search results, arguing that plenty of web traffic will continue as usual. However, the shift towards AI summaries and the rise of social media platforms have started the slow dismantlement of the open web.
If Google doesn’t manage this decline carefully, AI could end up not only consuming the web but also depleting its own resources. As Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas noted, “In a world where everyone gets answers and doesn’t have to click on links, the biggest loser is Google.”
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