The thing is, if AI agents become a significant part of web traffic then the content of the web will simply shift to manipulate the agent instead of the human.
And don’t forget when you use an AI agent today to buy something it’s using “marketing” information to make its decisions. It’s influenced by SEO in its search results, indeed there’s no shortage of marketers busy working out how to do this.
I do agree there’s much to be optimistic about but the fundamental dynamics of the consumer market won’t change.
> In that world, those agents will sift through the noise. And the one that does that the best will win.
The existence of agents capable of learning to cut through the enshittification also implies the existence of agents capable of learning to enshittify all the more effectively. It's an arms race, and there's no reason to suspect that the pro-consumer side will win over the pro-exploitation side.
And don’t forget when you use an AI agent today to buy something it’s using “marketing” information to make its decisions. It’s influenced by SEO in its search results, indeed there’s no shortage of marketers busy working out how to do this.
I do agree there’s much to be optimistic about but the fundamental dynamics of the consumer market won’t change.