Author: rm
Compiled by: TechFlow
At one time, the Internet gave a sense of completeness - each application, service, and product cleverly combined form, function, and content. Louis Sullivan's concept of "form follows function" has influenced the way we think about architecture and design, and Dieter Rams' excellent design principles have further advanced this idea. However, these concepts do not fully apply in the digital realm. In the virtual world, form and function require a third element: content.
Form, function, and content have always been the core of digital experiences. Form is what we see - visual aesthetics, decoration, and atmosphere. Function is how we interact - how we engage, explore, and experience. And content is the meaning, data, and information within. This tripartite structure defines digital design and shapes the internet we know.
But recently, this balance seems to be breaking down. Form, function, and content are starting to come apart, no longer as tightly integrated as they once were. We see these elements becoming separated, losing the unified experience of the past.
Decomposing for a New Type of User
We have experienced many cycles of bundling and unbundling, but this time, the situation is quite different. The once-complete experiences are now being decomposed into independent actions. The entire service can now be reduced to a single API call or a smart contract. Our interactions are divided between server-side processing and client-side interfaces, leaving behind only modular fragments, not a complete system.
When you use a new search engine, you don't see the synergistic collaboration of form, function, and content of the past. You are no longer in the symbiotic relationship of form, function, and content. What you see are scattered fragments, integrated into a customized new interface. We have moved beyond the unified web and into a world of loosely connected fragments.
But what if this decomposition is not just a technological evolution? What if it is because the primary users of the internet are changing?
Autonomous Intelligence: The Rise of the Agent Network
A new type of user is emerging: autonomous intelligent agents. Some call them bots or agents, but essentially, they are self-directed systems - autonomous intelligence. Unlike traditional AI, which is often embedded in human-centric designs, autonomous agents navigate, process, and interact on the network in a way that is independent of human aesthetics, workflows, or user experiences. They do not need the form we require, nor the user-friendly functions. They only need direct access to content and actions.
This marks the rise of the agent network - an internet where the primary users are not human. Agents can scrape, browse, and execute tasks without considering traditional interfaces. They bypass the decorations, circumvent the experiences, and directly access the data.
The change is that in a network where agent users are increasingly dominant, we humans are becoming the minority. Why design for thousands of human users when billions of agents can use the same system with high scalability and near-zero latency? When the primary "audience" is no longer human, the traditional notions of form, function, and content also lose their original meaning. The three elements that once defined the internet are no longer as necessary as they once were.
Designing Primarily for Intelligent Agents
If the network is shifting towards an agent-driven paradigm, how do we design for these autonomous intelligences? What does it mean to build an internet that primarily serves non-human users?
This shift means moving from a human-centric experience to an agent-centric architecture. Interfaces that prioritize efficiency, data, and machine-readability will replace traditional user-friendly designs. We need to achieve high interoperability and composability, allowing agents to seamlessly switch between tasks without the constraints of visuals or experiences. Documents, interfaces, and content may be stripped down to their most essential elements - not to guide humans, but to instruct autonomous agents on how to interact with the network at machine speeds.
In an agent-first internet, every interaction is optimized for their needs, not ours. The familiar user experiences will be replaced by a data-intensive environment that we humans may struggle to recognize.
Are We Still the Masters of the Internet?
As agents become the dominant force on the network, what does this mean for us humans? When the network is optimized to serve autonomous intelligence, what kind of internet will we find ourselves in? We may soon discover that we are merely secondary users, guests in a space not designed for us.
Perhaps our internet needs to be on-demand - a dynamic layer overlaying the agent-centric network, appearing only when we need it and quickly disappearing. Such experiences may be more like temporarily generated interfaces tailored to our needs, rather than fixed interfaces we can rely on.
But if we design primarily for autonomous intelligence, what does this mean for brands, products, and content? If the digital space prioritizes machine-readability and parallel processing over human interaction, what is left for us?
We are on the edge of an internet that may no longer see us as the primary users. A network that is gradually moving away from being centered on human needs, slipping out of our control. We created it, but it is changing in ways that go beyond our grasp - reshaping itself for the increasingly dominant intelligences.
Are we ready to embrace an internet where we are the visitors, not the natives?
