Web 3.0: What Is It and How Will It Be Different From the Current Internet?

Internet is undoubtedly the most consequential innovation in the history of humankind. Although it has been around for more than two decades, it's far from realising its potential. Some say the Internet's current stage is akin to the automobile industry in the early 20th century – in need of major improvements. Imagine a type of Internet that not just follows your directions but also interprets and makes sense of everything you convey to it either through text or speech. An Internet that gives you results tailored to your preference more than ever before. Many call it Internet or Web 3.0.

What Is Internet 3.0?

World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee called it the Semantic Web (interconnected data). Web 3.0 would be aimed at being more autonomous, intelligent, and open. It would interconnect all the data in a decentralised way — a huge jump from the current system where the data is stored in centralised repositories. There would be two important pillars on which Internet 3.0 will be based: semantic web and artificial intelligence (AI). In this setup, programs should be able to understand information conceptually and contextually and humans could interact with machines.

How Has The Internet Evolved?

Web 1.0 (1989-2005): Also called the Static Web, it was the first internet that came into existence in 1989. Despite giving access to limited information with little user interaction, it remained the most reliable web source in the 1990s. It did not have algorithms to sift through Internet pages. This made finding useful information very difficult.

Web 2.0 (2005-present): The evolution of social media websites made the Internet a lot more interactive. HTML also contributed to its incredible popularity. Companies began setting up interactive web platforms such as YouTube, Facebook, Wikipedia, Twitter, Instagram pages. This started the process of user-generated content as Web.20 allows data sharing between various platforms and applications.

Web 3.0 (anticipated): It's the next stage in the evolution of the Internet. During this phase, the Internet will become more intelligent and could process information almost like a human brain using the strength of AI systems. Since programs would be able to interact among themselves without being prompted by humans at every turn, the content generation would become highly intelligent and its distribution targeted.

It is expected that Web 3.0 will provide a more personal browsing experience and will help establish a more equitable Internet. Once this infrastructure is put into place, it is likely to trigger a new wave of innovations that will empower users with more control over their data. It will also make the Internet more integral to our daily lives. Most of today's offline machines — like home appliances and transport systems — come online and interact with their autonomous servers.

Since Web 3.0 will operate through decentralised protocols, which are based on blockchain technology, it is expected that these two and cryptocurrency will converge in a close relationship.