Ah, the Internet! The magical place where cat videos thrive, social media rants never end, and you can order a pizza without speaking to a human. But where did it all begin? Was it some genius' master plan, or did it evolve from sheer necessity?
Back to the 1960s: The Birth of the Internet
Our story begins in the swinging 60s, when flared pants were cool (the first time) and space exploration was all the rage. The U.S. Department of Defence, worried about potential communication breakdowns during wartime, came up with ARPANET. This was a network designed to keep information flowing, even if bits of it were knocked out. Little did they know, they were laying the foundation for the digital world we live in today.
Will It Last or Just a Fad?
Believe it or not, some people genuinely thought the Internet was just a trend - like leg warmers or dial-up tones. Others, like Vinton Cerf and Tim Berners-Lee, knew it had serious potential. Tim, the hero behind the World Wide Web, even gave us the first web page in 1991! But in those early days, many companies weren't convinced: "Why would anyone need an email when they can just send a fax?"
Expansion at Warp Speed
Fast forward to the 90s and BOOM - suddenly everyone's jumping online. Universities, businesses, and even your nan started getting connected. The launch of search engines like Google and social platforms meant that the Internet wasn't just surviving - it was thriving.
Living in a Hyper-Connected World
Today, it's hard to imagine life without the Internet. We work remotely, shop online, stream music, and have instant access to endless knowledge (and nonsense). From video calls across the globe to AI chatbots helping you out (hello there!), we're more connected than ever before.
But Will the Internet Last?
Absolutely, the internet's here for the long haul - but we're standing at the edge of another monumental shift. Just as ARPANET evolved into the World Wide Web, we're now witnessing what tech analyst Benedict Evans calls the "unbundling" of AI - where the question isn't whether AI will replace the web, but whether we'll use chatbots as general-purpose interfaces or unbundle them into specialised tools.
Here's the delicious irony: we've spent decades creating so much information that we now need artificial intelligence to help us find stuff. It's like having such a massive library that you need a robot librarian just to locate the book on how libraries work.
The signs are already there, particularly among younger users. SurveyMonkey research conducted among 25,030 US adults found that 30% of younger generations use AI weekly, with Gen Z leading the charge - 61% use AI for learning and school work. A separate Gallup survey revealed that 79% of Gen Z have used AI tools, with 47% using generative AI weekly. Search Engine Land's 2025 survey found that Gen Z is driving a shift toward AI and social platforms for search, using different platforms based on intent - TikTok for discovery, AI for research, and Google only when it suits the task.
Companies like Perplexity are betting big on this shift. The platform has grown to 10-15 million active monthly users, processes over 400 million search queries monthly, and maintains a revenue run rate of $50-80 million. Crucially, 57% of Perplexity's users are aged 18-34, showing that younger users are already embracing conversational search. Meanwhile, Microsoft's Bing integration with ChatGPT and Google's own Search Generative Experience point to the same trend - AI isn't eliminating search, it's becoming the new interface.
What we're really seeing is the evolution from Google's one-size-fits-all PageRank system toward what we might call "PersonalRank" - deeply personalised search that understands your individual context and preferences. Instead of AI agents doing all our browsing for us, we're heading toward smart filtering that cuts through information overload whilst preserving the discovery and serendipity that makes browsing enjoyable.
This transformation poses interesting questions for traditional ad-revenue models. Google's entire business is built on us clicking through search results, but if AI provides direct answers with fewer clicks, that model needs rethinking. However, as we've seen throughout internet history, companies adapt - they always have.
The internet won't disappear or become some invisible infrastructure we never touch. Instead, our relationship with it is becoming more intimate and efficient. We'll still browse, discover, and get lost in rabbit holes - because that's half the fun - but we'll also have AI companions that understand our preferences well enough to cut through the noise when we need them to. Think of it as having a really smart mate who knows exactly what you're looking for and can instantly fish it out of the world's messiest filing cabinet.