AI has evolved from an occasional support into a constant presence in everyday life. In 2026, traditional search engines will continue to lose relevance as AI agents continue to become more capable of serving our needs. Ultimately, instead of humans navigating platforms, these AI agents will increasingly interact with other AI systems without the need for humans to intervene. These agents will independently carry out tasks such as negotiating prices, filtering out irrelevant information, or even curating opportunities.

However, in this environment, the design incentives will quickly become critical. Transparency, alignment and accountability will all become essential as we ask ourselves: in whose interests are these agents truly optimised for? This question will rapidly move from a theoretical debate to an urgent requirement. The defining question within this wider discussion will be whether AI acts in ways that reflect our values and priorities rather than completely independently.

Building digital ‘human-only’ communities

Alongside the advance of AI, a parallel trend is emerging: the creation of digital spaces where interaction is reserved exclusively for real people. The ubiquity of bots, deepfakes, and automated accounts has made a long-ignored need impossible to overlook. Messaging platforms, forums, communities, and even e-commerce services are adopting human verification systems as a condition for access.

These spaces are unlikely to reject AI altogether, instead they will demand transparency about how, where, and when automation and AI are present. Users will increasingly expect to know if they are engaging with humans, AI, or even a hybrid system. The platforms that can guarantee a verified human presence without sacrificing privacy will hold a significant competitive advantage when building an online community.

More privacy will mean less data

We have never been more connected and never more exposed. To access basic digital services, from social networks to dating apps, people share documents, personal data, and sensitive identity traces. In response, key technological solutions are gaining traction, such as Zero Knowledge Proofs.

These technologies make it possible to verify specific attributes (like legal age or nationality) without revealing underlying data. In practice, they allow people to prove without exposing, a principle that will define the next generation of digital services. As privacy in the AI age becomes even more paramount, the advances in these technologies will help better protect users from data hacks and more sophisticated scam tactics.

Proof of human will become indispensable

For years, tools like CAPTCHA served as basic filters to distinguish humans from machines. Today, with AI systems capable of easily bypassing them, they have become obsolete. As generative models grow more sophisticated, distinguishing between what is real and what is synthetic will become increasingly complex.

As a result, proof of human is emerging as an indispensable infrastructure for the digital ecosystem. It represents a new layer of online security and trust, enabling people to prove they are real anonymously, without compromising their privacy.

Beyond security, proof of human will also become the cornerstone of new economic and governance online. In the very near future, virtually all digital experiences, from online voting to reward systems and promotions, will rely on the promise that each participant is a real and unique person.

The goal of this isn’t to collect data or try to track user’s activity online, it’s simply to make the internet a fairer and safer place – where one person equals one voice. In a world where AI can generate numerous fake identities in seconds, helping to restore trust and make digital spaces feel genuinely human again will become a quiet but fundamental part of the internet.