MIT Technology Review: an internet built for AI agents may worsen the web for humans

MIT Technology Review argues that personal AI agents are creating a third category of web visitor: neither humans nor conventional bots, but systems that act on people’s behalf and operate at machine speed. According to the publication, Meta’s Muse reached 5 million downloads in its first month, while agentic web traffic tripled from August to September. Websites including Pizza Hut and Yelp are already presenting difficulties for these agents; Amazon has blocked Muse’s agents and is also seeking to block Perplexity’s, arguing that they threaten its advertising business. A judge recently ruled in Perplexity’s favor, but Amazon appealed.

The publication says that if demand continues to grow, platforms may prioritize agents because of their e-commerce potential. Shopify is already giving them checkout lanes that bypass pages designed for humans. The result, the analysis says, could be a less convenient web for people who still want to browse, compare products and use services directly.