The Internet today is based on a metaphor of a library of linked documents. After all, it was originally designed for academics to share research papers.
If I could recreate the Internet from the ground up, I would create it as a shadow of the real world. Each real-world location would have an internet address. Each real-world person or entity would have its own avatar. My Internet would do away with anonymity.
Internet Addresses
Each real-world location has its own Internet address. A user of a mobile device can use GPS to automatically bring up the website for the corresponding location. For example, if you’re standing in a hotel lobby, you can easily bring up the website for that hotel on your mobile device.
But you’re not tied to only going to the website of the location you’re at. You can also search or browse on a map. Every website is tied to a real-world location, so there are no anonymous websites. The website is owned by the person who owns the land that it corresponds to in real life.
As such, only land owners automatically own Internet addresses. However, if you don’t own land you can always rent or borrow an Internet address from a landowner. It’s actually not unlike how the Internet works today. Most website operators don’t actually own the servers on which their website operates. Most website operators rent space and domain names from companies like Bluehost or GoDaddy.
Avatars
Right now, each Internet user probably has 50-100 different accounts or user handles for various websites across the Web. In my new Internet, I would allow each user to have one avatar that represents them wherever they go on the Internet. You can customize your avatar however you want, but you only get one. And it’s not anonymous. I would be able to easily look up anyone’s avatar with some basic identifying information.
Each avatar would have an artificial intelligence (AI) attached to it. I can train the AI for my avatar with information on how it should act and what information is public. That way, when other avatars encounter my avatar, they can interact with it and talk with it even when I’m not actively online. For example, I would be able to seek out the avatar for Warren Buffett and ask it questions about investing. Depending on how the real Warren Buffett trained his corresponding AI, I may or may not be able to get answers for my questions. Heck, I may or may not be able to even interact with Warren Buffett’s avatar if the real Warren Buffett decides to keep his avatar private.
Websites
As I discussed above, every location on Earth will have its own potential website controlled by whoever owns the real-world land. If I control a website location, whether by owning a home or by renting space from someone else, I could develop a website for it. I use the term “website” loosely, because the websites on my internet are not based on the metaphor of “document pages.” My websites would be more like “experiences.” Sure, some websites might only have documents, videos, and pictures, but more complex websites may include 3D virtual spaces with AI entities to interact with.
Putting it all together, if I were to surf this reimagined Internet, I could put on a 3D headset and send my avatar to my friend’s house. I could walk into his house in 3D and see the virtual space he set up for public access. Perhaps I could find his avatar inside to chat with. If he is not online, maybe I could interact with a deep-faked AI “ghost” of him.
Modes of Use
Sometimes you just want to check the news, or quick look up how many home runs Hank Aaron hit in his career. For these uses, you don’t need to go into a full 3D experience with your avatar. You only need the avatar when you’re using the internet in 3D immersive mode.
My new internet will have different modes of use. You’re either zipping around like an apparition gathering information from different sources around the world, or you’re using your avatar and exploring.
There are also different modes for different devices. The internet experience from your phone will be very different from your experience wearing a virtual reality headset at your computer.
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