Perplexity is about to launch a new browser called Comet. While we don't know what it will actually look like, it's interesting to imagine. Suppose this browser enables human-AI collaboration for web browsing. For instance, when you need to find information, it could search across various search engines, read through results, and organize the data for you. If you need to update Google Docs or Notion, it could directly open the web page and modify the document. If that's the case, the impact could be quite significant.
I once heard a reason for building humanoid robots: the entire world is designed with humans as the reference point—stairs, door handles, washing machines, TV remotes, and so on. If a new creation takes a different form, it won't be able to interact with the infrastructure that has been accumulated over hundreds or thousands of years.
I think this browser feels somewhat similar. Traditionally, if web services wanted to allow machine access, they had to develop new APIs. They even implemented human verification systems like reCAPTCHA to counter various automated crawlers.
But if the next generation of browsers enables human-AI collaboration for web browsing, suddenly much of the existing infrastructure becomes accessible. Automation barriers disappear—when human intervention is needed, the AI requests your assistance, then continues working once you've helped. Imagining this future reveals a very different world. Many cross-service integrations that previously seemed complex suddenly become simple—though we'll also need to solve many new problems 🤣
The future remains chaotic yet fascinating. I hope the fascinating parts outweigh the chaos.