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Over the past two years, something remarkable has happened: the cost of creating software has started to plummet. AI-powered tools from companies like OpenAI, Google, Meta, and Wolfram have transformed what was once hours, or even weeks, of programming into something closer to a conversation. You describe what you want and the AI writes it for you.
This is a profound change. This means that software is no longer just the domain of skilled developers. Using Large Language Models (LLM), anyone with a good idea and an outline can generate working code, deploy applications, and automate tasks in minutes. We are, in a way, entering a time where the cost of coding tends towards zero.
Naturally, this leads some people to talk about a future filled with “infinite apps” – a digital Cambrian explosion where new tools and utilities are constantly appearing, built on demand, tailored to niche use cases or even individual users.
But here’s the catch: humans do not have infinite needs, infinite time, or infinite attention.
The attention bottleneck
Let’s start with the obvious. Today, most people access the Internet through their phones. And most of that time is spent on a small handful of apps: YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, messaging platforms. Our screens are already saturated and our attention is maxed out.
Even if we could create a million new apps overnight (and technically, we almost can), users simply aren’t looking for more places to spend their time. They don’t want ten more budgeting tools, twenty more to-do lists, or a hundred more weather apps. On the contrary, they want less applications, those that do more, integrate better and disappear into the background.
Businesses also have limits
One could argue that businesses could still benefit from all these new AI-generated tools, and many will. But even in the business world, there are constraints:
- There are only a limited number of employees to train.
- The number of processes to be digitized is limited.
- There are only so many hours in a workday.
Yes, AI will help businesses create custom internal tools faster and at lower cost. But each new tool adds complexity: more interfaces to manage, more systems to integrate, more places where things can break. At some point, organizations no longer need more apps-they need better automation And smarter workflows.
Infinite code, finite use
What is really happening is not so much a world of infinite applications, but a world in which the software becomes invisible. Instead of separate apps, AI agents will be integrated into existing platforms, responding to commands in natural language, silently optimizing routines, and automating tasks without ever needing a new download or icon on your home screen.
We will see:
- Custom tools generated on-demand for a specific task and subsequently deleted.
- Bots that handle tasks across multiple systems without the need for user interfaces.
- AI personal assistants that act as “meta-applications,” managing dozens of use cases behind a single conversational interface.
This is not an app abundance— this is an application absorption.
The future could be different for AI
Now here’s the speculative twist. Some people imagine a future in which AI “individuals” or agents emerge, autonomous entities that act on their own behalf or on behalf of others, across networks, systems and tasks. If that happens, we could actually see a massive demand for software – applications not for humans, but for humans. AI.
If there are billions of AI agents, each with unique goals, preferences, or decision-making patterns, then maybe we’ll actually need them. would be need something like “infinite” applications. Not for us, but for them.
But this world is not here yet. This is more science fiction than reality. For now, the bottlenecks are human: attention, usability, integration and real value.
What we should really expect
So what does the future look like?
- Yeswe will see an explosion in software creation.
- Yesmore people than ever will be able to automate, experiment and create.
- But nowe are not moving towards a world of infinite applications in the traditional sense.
We are moving towards a world where software friction disappears, where applications are no longer things we download Or openbut things that arrive when we need it, triggered by a query, template or prompt.
The real story is not about creating more apps. First and foremost, it’s about using AI to reduce the need for apps.
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