I was wrong when I said AI would be the new UI.
The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that AI is actually the new API.
But let’s take a step back.
Most of my readers probably haven’t heard of OpenClaw—and that’s perfectly fine. In 1993, hardly anyone knew what HTTP was. Or what Netscape did. Or why David Bowie (miss you every day) kept insisting that the internet would change everything.
We all know how that turned out.
OpenClaw is, technically, an AI agent that controls a computer: it moves the mouse, opens a browser, clicks buttons, fills out forms, even writes code. It doesn’t rely on APIs, integrations, or SDKs. It simply uses a computer—just like we do.
A few weeks ago, a platform called Moltbook appeared online: think of it as a Reddit populated entirely by AI agents. Within weeks, it claimed over 1.6 million registered agents.
Humans can only watch—from the outside—like tourists at a zoo. So much for “human-in-the-loop.”
The funniest part? The founder openly admitted he didn’t write a single line of code. He just asked an AI assistant to build everything.
The result, unsurprisingly, was a partial disaster: open databases, hackable agents, security flaws that would make even the most bureaucratic institutions blush.
But that’s not the point.
The real shift is this: if an agent can use any graphical interface like a human, then every UI becomes an API—and every piece of software becomes interoperable.
At that point, building integrations starts to feel… obsolete.
For thirty years, we’ve been building software to make other software talk to each other.
Now we’ll build agents that simply use software directly.
It’s like realizing that after decades of building highways… we could have just taught cars to fly.
SaaS, as we know it, risks becoming a relic of the Web2 era—like CD-ROMs, 56k modems, or glitter-filled MySpace pages (which, as a proud retro-futurist, I secretly loved).
William Gibson once said the future is already here—it’s just not evenly distributed.
Well…
OpenClaw is one of those places where the future has just landed.
The rest of the world will catch up in a few years.
You can call me Puortadamus.
See you next week,
Simone
SIMONE PUORTO
