Ask HN: What will the web look like in 5 years with AI bots becoming widespread?
What will the web look like if these LLM bots become users' primary interface (rather than traditional websites)?
Do the majority of websites disappear?
Will monetized MCP servers become a new version of websites?
Are mobile apps even more critical now, as the app store is the last place for discovery?
Curious to hear your predictions, worries, or hopeful takes!
I run a book discovery website (https://shepherd.com) where people share books they love, and we try to unearth great books people haven't heard about. We've seen our traffic from Google drop massively as Google replaces search results with its AI chatbot. We get direct traffic from our fans, but without Google introducing us to new people, I'm worried there won't be any discovery. As a result... I'm working to launch a mobile app with a full reader app.
Any advice for me?
At this point, I'd expect a further move towards walled gardens to reduce competition (harder to scrape, copy, etc.) and increase the barrier for entry to new players: it's going to be even more pay to play than it is now.
I don't expect the Web to die, websites will stay a thing, but how they are discovered and used will undoubtedly shift. E.g., relying on tricks to get search traffic is a waste of time if nobody uses search.
Hopeful take: other protocols take more prominence. Disruptions and a fracture or two might help the Internet stay useful.
Any "out there" ideas on where discovery shifts?
i.e., I built something cool, I do a Show HN, but how do other people find it in the future?
Do you want to be recommended a book by AI?
We use AI internally as a tool, and I am working on some things around "book twins" to help people find books they will love for sure. I am going to look at possibility of a prompt type search, right now we do filters.
The rest of the web will just be an uncharted landscape, I'm looking forward to Stumbleupon making a comeback.
Those are all over the website:
Math as a discovery point -> https://shepherd.com/search/shelf/693
Math as a bookshelf -> https://shepherd.com/bookshelf/math?order=most_recommended
Tons of great interviews with authors around math as well:
30 year professor of mathematics -> https://shepherd.com/best-books/books-that-make-maths-intere...
Another that goes deep into mathematical concepts -> https://shepherd.com/best-books/for-mathematical-inspiration
Another examples of math and science and where they mesh -> https://shepherd.com/best-books/narrative-merit-in-mathemati...
And same goes for programming and philosophy, here are those discovery points: https://shepherd.com/search/shelf/876 https://shepherd.com/search/shelf/2568
Plus specific concepts like: - machine learning - https://shepherd.com/search/shelf/2055 - AI (mix nonfiction / fiction) - https://shepherd.com/search/shelf/77 - Agile - https://shepherd.com/search/shelf/5117 - Plato - https://shepherd.com/search/shelf/1087
Hope that helps, where did you go that it was confusing? Let me know and I'll fix it :)
Same about philosophy - those are not a philosophy books. All attemts to mark some math or philosophy books as "best" do not work here, because I do not interested about what most people appreciated. I am interested in all books per field. For example, I am interested in Stoicism, but you have only "stoicism from a psychiatrist and philosopher" (what was the stupid reason to prohibit me from selecting and copying this line) - but I hate psychiatrists as scientific freaks.
Another rebuke is that your webpage takes too much memory, I would like to see not so rich and colorful interface which should take less than 50MB per page.
Yep, we are probably not made for you. I get it. Our UX is designed for a different group of readers :). I hope you can find a great place to find books other than us.