World Wide Web inventor predicts: Big tech companies may soon break up

To commemorate the 35th anniversary of his invention, Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, looked back at the state of the web when it began 35 years ago and made three predictions about the future. Tim Berners-Lee said, “When it started, we couldn’t have predicted it would turn out like this and this change would happen.” Traffic to his first website, info.cern.ch, was “increasing many times over” at the rate of 10 books every year, doubling every four months. he recalls. Now, this is going to be a big deal. We need to make sure it doesn’t collapse. ”

But Tim Berners-Lee predicted what the web would look like over the next 35 years. Here are Tim Berners-Lee’s predictions:

Prediction 1: Everyone will have a personal AI assistant

He said AI will change the way we interact with the web, and that someday we’ll all have AI assistants working for us.

“Some people worry that AI will be more powerful than us in 35 years,” he added. “One thing I predict is that it will be something we will have to fight against. But the truth is that AI assistants are coming along that are as reliable and effective as doctors. ”

Prediction 2: Data ownership across all platforms

Tim Berners-Lee said that in the near future there will be a web where everyone has complete control over their data. Rather than being controlled by big tech companies like Google, Meta, Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, we will be able to own our data through data stores “pods.”

He explained: “He would think of the data pod as a digital space. He would think of it as one of the things he is very comfortable with.”

The idea is to have a set of “trusted apps” that can talk to each other to share information, he said, adding, “You can save everything from different apps, like to-do lists, calendar events, etc. That’s what I do,” he added. Some of your data will be integrated, making your ability to live your life even more powerful. ”

“You can do something with the VR headset, and then when you take the VR headset off, you can do it on a huge screen. And every time you move, you can pick up your phone and , you can enjoy the experience,” he continued. become one. You should be able to move between different devices very smoothly. ”

Prediction 3: Big tech companies may break up

Tim Berners-Lee said that big technology companies may be forced to break up in the future.

“Maybe companies were a little inspired by the possibility of regulation. But this was independent. Things are changing rapidly. AI is changing very rapidly. . There is a monopoly in AI. On the web, the monopoly has changed very quickly. Perhaps at some point in the future, agencies will have to make an effort to break up large companies, but no matter which company it is. “I don’t know if it will be,” he said.