The switchboard operator’s job was automated out of existence. The work it became, the invisible systems that now connect every call, is worth more than the job ever was. AI is about to do the same thing to the app.The people buying AI are blunt about the fact that the future is intelligence that disappears into existing platforms. Everyone wants it invisible and under their total control at the same time.We are all racing to build AI apps that nobody wants to open.Specifically, the standalone AI app, the thing you download, log into, and go to, is a worse idea than almost anyone building in the space wants to admit.The numbers are brutal. According to RevenueCat’s analysis of more than 115,000 apps, AI apps are fantastic at getting you to sign up and terrible at getting you to stay. They convert free users to paid faster than regular apps, then lose them roughly a third faster.A year...