In October, Dr. Mallik Tatipamula, the CTO of Ericsson, and Dr. Vinton Cerf, a VP and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google, published an article in IEEE Spectrum that postulated that there will be seven stages of the Internet over time.

They say that we have already experienced the first three stages, which include the original Internet, integrating the Internet into mobile devices, and extending the Internet to connect to Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The article postulates about what comes next.

The following are the seven stages:

The Original Internet. The objective of the original Internet was to connect computers and servers to share information. This evolved into the early World Wide Web, which largely democratized access to information.

The Mobile Internet. This was the process of developing apps to take advantage of the ability of mobile phones to connect to the Internet. This has evolved into an explosion of social media and transformational applications, like the ability to make cashless payments using phones. This opened the Internet to those around the world.

The Internet of Things (IoT). This phase of the Internet extended connectivity to machines other than computers and phones. The world is now full of smart appliances, connected cars, sensors, smart factories, and smart city applications.

The Internet of Agents (IoA). We’re now entering the next phase of the Internet, where connectivity will be ubiquitously extended to AI agents that perceive, reason, and collaborate. Virtual AI agents include things like digital assistants, coding copilots, workflow orchestrators, and trading algorithms. Physical AI agents will manifest in devices like autonomous cars, drones, industrial robots, and smart medical devices.

The Internet of Senses (IoS). They predict the next phase of the Internet will integrate wearables that extend human perception of touch, taste, and smell. For example, a potential buyer will be able to ‘feel’ the texture of clothing online, or smell a perfume before buying it. These changes will come through advances in haptic wearables, digital olfaction, and brain-computer interfaces.

The Ubiquitous Internet. This will arrive when there is seamless global access to broadband across land, sea, air, and space. Every person on the planet and their devices will have access to the Internet.

The Quantum Internet. The final stage of the Internet will integrate quantum information into the Internet using qubits and quantum entanglement. This will create ultra-secure communications that are resistant to interception and hacking, and will have unprecedented precision in measuring time, motion, and the environment.