The other day I was scrolling through LinkedIn and an old acquaintance from Berlin was in a self-admitted technological funk. His chief complaint was basically about spam. His feeling was that both search engines and social media are dead because they are so full of ads and sponsored content. It takes too much effort to discern valuable results from nonsense in the stream. I couldn’t agree more.

Another fellow whose work I deeply admire commented “how can [search] be dead if nothing replaces it?” To which I – admittedly somewhat glibly – replied:

AI agents are going to obsolete search, UX, and SEO.

As AI agents redefine the search landscape, they will cater to individual preferences and understand user intent, rendering conventional SEO strategies obsolete. The ability to filter out noise and prioritize high-quality content will fundamentally change how we search for information and will make conventional adblocker browser plugins seem quaint in comparison.

However, as AI-generated content becomes the norm, we must remain vigilant against ontological feedback loops, where recursive meaning can distort information. Striking a balance between AI-generated content and human input will be vital in navigating the Postsearch Era.

AI’s transformative power will also extend to User Experience (UX). Traditional UX has aimed to make information more accessible and engaging for human consumption. AI agents can process raw data in ways that both eclipse the human nervous system’s constraints and eschew a reliance on visual/haptic hardware.

The interface between humans and AI agents will emerge as the most crucial UX experience and will instigate a sea change in what is meant by personal computing. As AI agents become a primary means of interfacing with information, traditional UX will wither. The need for human data entry tasks will diminish, making interactions with databases and software more seamless and natural.

Human: Hey, can you book me two tickets for “The Lehman Trilogy”?

AI Agent: Sure, would you like me to find the best seats available?

Human: Yes, please. And make sure they’re not too expensive.

AI Agent: I’ve found two great seats in the mezzanine section for £75 each. Shall I book them for you? According to reviews, this should give you a great view of the award winning set design!

Human: Thanks – that’s exactly why I want to go – I’m curious if it will give me inspiration for my project.

AI Agent: I’m sure it will. I’ve emailed you the confirmation and put the show on your calendar. You might also want to check out this interview with the set designer…

In the Postsearch Era, the internet will become more invisible because agents will be doing more of the browsing, data entry, payment processing, and tab shuffling, making interactions with databases and software more seamless and natural. The focus will shift from catering to people’s preferences to making data more machine readable. Non-human website traffic will increase while human website traffic will decrease. We will eventually look back at websites with a similar affectation that we currently have towards trifold brochures.

The critical skill that we must develop to interface effectively and creatively with AI will be prompt craft. Curators, creative directors, film directors, art directors, product managers – these are just some of the many people who already play professional roles that are defined by one’s ability to excel at articulating subjective visions, tastes, requirements and preferences to shape streams of information. By refining our ability to craft prompts, we can effectively communicate our intentions to AI agents, harnessing their power to deliver personalized, relevant content while maintaining our unique human touch. The Postsearch Era ushers in a time where the harmonious synergy between AI capabilities and our innate human skill for crafting meaningful, engaging narratives will be extremely important.

Written together with GPT-4.
People & Agents image generated using DALL·E 2.