---
title: "Back to Text: How AI Might Reverse Web Design"
description: "Explore how AI agents are transforming web interfaces from visual to text-first, disrupting UX design and creating faster, cleaner digital experiences for users."
categories: ["trends"]
keywords: ["AI web design","text-first interfaces","user experience design","Tomasz Tunguz","digital experiences","SaaS applications","open-source AI agents","web trends","travel booking AI"]
ai_summary: "AI is shifting web design from visual to text-first, enhancing user experience and simplifying digital interactions."
date: 2025-01-05
lastmod: 2026-07-30
canonical_url: https://www.tomtunguz.com/back-to-text/
author: "Tomasz Tunguz"
---

<div style="position: relative; padding-bottom: 64.5933014354067%; height: 0;"><iframe src="https://www.loom.com/embed/4fd7ab174eb4468787c0546f90f59b9a?sid=c4b3e21c-79a5-4541-9801-94eee82869d0" frameborder="0" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen style="position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%;"></iframe></div>

AI saved me from cookie banners, travel insurance popups, car rental quotes, & the special frustration of comparing flight options across tabs.


I downloaded an open-source agent, tweaked it & watched it find the cheapest flights for my trip from San Francisco to Newark. 

## One-Way Trip (12 Jan 2025)

| Airline | Departure | Arrival | Duration | Stops | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 5:14 AM from SFO | 3:44 PM at EWR | 7 hr 30 min | 1 (DEN) | $297 |
| United Airlines | 10:45 AM from SFO | 7:26 PM at EWR | 5 hr 41 min | Nonstop | $474 |

## Return Trip (18 Jan 2025)

| Airline | Departure | Arrival | Duration | Stops | Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines | 5:14 AM from SFO | 3:44 PM at EWR | 7 hr 30 min | 1 (DEN) | $297 |
| United Airlines | 6:38 AM from SFO | 5:33 PM at EWR | 7 hr 55 min | 1 (DEN) | $422 |

In the video, the robot "sees" the page, determines the next step, errs by clicking on an SEO optimized link, backtracks, & then ultimately extracts the answer from the chaff.

If I received a quick chat with this & a button that asked me which to book, I'm certain I'd never return to the travel agency's website. And I'd ask it to do the same for me elsewhere. 

- **Email:** Please suggest replies.
- **News:** Show me the top 10 news stories about the topics I care about.
- **Social Media:** Suggest replies & summarize the trending & spicy.
- **Grocery Shopping:** Same as last week.
- **Sports & Stock Updates:** Niners & the Nasdaq.
- **Book Recommendations:** Any new spy novels and notable macroeconomics books?

Here's the twist. During the last 20 years, we've focused on improving websites for humans with complex design, single page apps, & complex Javascript. We've achieved the [newspaper from Harry Potter](https://tomtunguz.com/harry-potters-newspaper/).

But AI thrives on simplicity : pure text. Microsoft recently released a [library to convert all kinds of documents to AI-friendly text](https://github.com/microsoft/markitdown) : PDF, PowerPoint, Word, Excel, images & audio. 

The better the AI performs, the fewer websites I'll visit.

What if the future of the web is exactly how it started :  pure text websites? But text for robots, not text for humans.