The AI Agent Is Taking Over The Computer

Over the last year and a half, I’ve argued that the best mental model for understanding where AI is headed is to see the current wave of AI agents as a transitional phase. Today, agents are learning how to use computers built for humans. But that is not the end state.

The real destination is the convergence of the agent and the computer itself. Rather than AI operating software through existing interface — as explored in the interface layer wars reshaping consumer tech — s, the intelligence layer will become the interface. In that sense, agents won’t just use computers; they will effectively merge with them.

This is what makes AI a true second computing revolution. The first revolution gave us graphical interfaces that allowed humans to interact with machines. The second replaces those interfaces with intelligence, shifting computing from clicks and commands to goals and outcomes.

I’ve called this the agentic expansion cascade.