As the AI browser war intensifies, Perplexity AI CEO Aravind Srinivas has made a bold claim: the company’s upcoming AI browser, Comet, is poised to replace two white-collar roles — the executive assistant and the research analyst.
A Browser That Thinks Like an Assistant
Unlike traditional browsers that merely retrieve results, Comet is designed to think, synthesize, and deliver answers, functioning more like a proactive assistant than a passive search engine. Srinivas says, “Why hire someone to find, filter, and summarize data when an AI browser can do it faster and 24/7?”
With natural language capabilities, Comet will allow users to ask complex, multi-step questions and receive real-time, curated responses. For instance, planning a business trip, drafting emails, or analyzing competitor trends — tasks once owned by assistants or junior analysts — could now be managed by Comet autonomously.
The End of Traditional Research Roles?
Perplexity believes manual research will soon become obsolete. In industries like consulting, media, and finance, junior analysts spend hours gathering, comparing, and presenting data. Comet aims to automate this end-to-end, delivering clean insights, reports, and citations on demand.
This raises pressing questions:
- Will AI tools like Comet reshape the entry-level job market?
- How will businesses restructure teams when AI can deliver results once handled by entire departments?
A Wake-Up Call for Knowledge Workers
Srinivas’s statement isn’t just provocative — it’s a signal to white-collar professionals to reskill and adapt. As AI becomes more integrated into daily workflows, roles focused purely on information retrieval are most at risk. The future may favor those who can interpret, make decisions, and collaborate with AI, rather than those who simply gather information.
Final Thoughts
Comet represents a new era in browsing — not just a gateway to web pages but a co-pilot for cognitive tasks. If it lives up to the hype, it could redefine what it means to “look something up” and challenge the very structure of modern office work.
