What "Killer App" Will Emerge from Generative AI?

 Agents are clearly a lead candidate for the artificial intelligence "killer app." Personalization of your digital experience is one thing; anticipation of your needs is something else. 

With the caveat that it is always possible there is no single and universal “killer app” in any computing era, it still is possible that one could emerge for generative artificial intelligence. 

Certainly, key or lead apps have been important in prior waves of computing development. Sometimes  the killer app is clear enough for end users and consumers. At other times it is the business or organization end users or business-to-business use cases that dominate. 

As a rule, B2B value was dominant in the mainframe and minicomputer eras. Since  then, virtually all killer apps can be identified by the consumer apps that surfaced. 

But some innovations, such as app stores or cloud computing, arguably were important as platforms and ways of doing things, rather than specific apps. 

Era/Platform	Killer App(s)	Rationale
Mainframe Era (1960s-1970s)	COBOL.  Batch Processing	Enabled large-scale business applications like payroll, banking, and insurance systems.
Minicomputer Era (1970s-1980s)	VAX/VMS, Accounting Systems	Brought computing power to smaller organizations, particularly in science, manufacturing, and finance.
Personal Computer (PC) Era (1980s-1990s)	VisiCalc (spreadsheet)	The first spreadsheet program, which revolutionized business and financial management.
PC Era (1990s)	Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, etc.)	Dominated office productivity, becoming essential in business, education, and home environments.
PC Era (1990s)	Internet Browsers (Netscape, Internet Explorer)	Opened the gateway to the World Wide Web, fundamentally changing communication and information access.
Web 1.0 Era (late 1990s-2000s)	Email (e.g., AOL, Hotmail)	Email transformed personal and business communication, enabling near-instant global connectivity.
Web 1.0/2.0 Era (early 2000s)	Search Engines (Google)	Google’s search engine made finding information on the web faster and more accurate, changing web usability.
Mobile Era (2000s)	Text and Instant Messaging (WhatsApp and others)	Redefined personal communication with quick, accessible messaging on mobile phones.
Mobile App Era (late 2000s-2010s)	App Stores (Apple App Store, Google Play)	Created an ecosystem where developers could offer mobile apps, enabling smartphone adoption at scale.
Mobile App Era (2010s)	Social Media Apps (Facebook, Instagram)	Changed social interaction, media consumption, and online behavior globally.
Cloud Computing Era (2010s-present)	AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud	Enabled scalable, on-demand computing infrastructure, transforming how companies build and deploy services.
AI Era (2020s)?	Generative AI (ChatGPT, others)	Revolutionizing content creation, customer service, and automating complex cognitive tasks. Enable AI agents

We don’t yet know what killer apps could emerge in the AI era, but early on, generative AI might be a lead platform. Still, some believe AI agents could emerge as a potential killer app for GenAI.