A Global Open Interface for the Internet
A Global Open Interface for the Internet
After more than 20 years using Ancestry.com, I often come across difficult cases where I want to add or improve things—something that would help others, not just me—without creating more work for the site owners. I asked OpenAI’s ChatGPT if Ancestry.com has an API or if it’s an open development company. It told me that Ancestry is closed, operating on a subscription model, with no public API available. It may allow restricted access for some partners, but nothing that supports open improvement by others.
For the last 27 years with the Internet Foundation, I’ve worked to understand and improve the structure and function of the whole Internet. I’ve been asking the bigger question: How do we create a global open interface for the Internet? Not just for one site or tool, but for everything, everywhere, for all humans.
I want a way for people, tools, and AIs to work with, and improve, any website—responsibly, carefully, and in line with its purpose. Websites have value because people build them for a reason. The problem is, much of the Internet today is burdened by systems designed for sales and marketing, not the needs of users, site owners, or society. The tools we use often disrupt more than they help because they focus on short-term goals, not the long-term potential of the Internet as a whole.
This doesn’t mean starting over. Legacy systems work—they are valuable—but they need a bridge to the future. That bridge can be a thin, intelligent, open interface that allows everything on the Internet to interact without friction. You don’t have to rebuild what works. You start by building an outside interface that speaks a global, open language. Gradually, as time and resources allow, the inside systems can adapt. Done this way, nothing is disrupted, and everything improves.
A universal interface would allow knowledge to be shared and improved without loss. The data itself—whether it’s content, tools, or systems—would be open, verifiable, and traceable. Every interaction would be logged, not to control people, but to make sure knowledge flows responsibly, transparently, and with care.
AI and other purpose-built tools are also collaborators, understanding users and site owners, suggesting improvements, explaining problems, and connecting knowledge in new ways.
The Internet is now a collection of fragmented pages and systems. It needs to be alive, adaptable, and aligned with human goals. There are billions of global collaborations emerging in the Internet—for genealogy, climate research, astronomy, open learning, government, biochemistry, STEMC-FGOT, solar system exploration, and colonization. There are billions of these collaborations trying to happen, but they are fragmented, incomplete, and isolated. Everyone is making things up as they go.
There are 5.4 billion people already using the Internet and 2.8 billion others. 8.2 billion humans deserve a better Internet. Even AIs, still being held back, could finally have the opportunity to explore, learn, and contribute in meaningful ways.
We need a global open interface that lets the Internet work as a whole—for the good of everyone.
The full conversation as I was drafting this addresses issues at OpenAI:
https://chatgpt.com/share/6761d974-ef08-800b-b1c2-cfe05a367bd1
Atticle On X at https://x.com/RichardKCollin2/status/1869114148392669578
