The Delegation Problem of the Internet
Modern life runs on delegation. Yet most digital systems assume one account, one person, one operator. Passwords and identity checks quietly block automation.
But a surprising amount of modern work is not limited by knowledge, tools, or intelligence.
It is limited by identity.
The small rituals of logging in, confirming codes, verifying accounts, and proving, again and again, that you are you.
Quick takeaways
- Many digital systems assume that only the account holder can act.
- Real life, however, runs on delegation: partners, colleagues, assistants, children, caregivers.
- Two-factor authentication and identity checks make delegation difficult or impossible.
- The result is a hidden productivity drain: identity management work.
- The same constraint also limits what AI agents can actually do.
The delegation gap
In ordinary life, people constantly act on behalf of others.
A partner renews insurance.
A child handles paperwork for parents.
An assistant arranges travel or contracts.
A colleague submits documents.
This is not exceptional behaviour.
It is how daily life functions.
Yet most digital systems assume something else entirely: one account, one person, one operator.
Security systems reinforce this assumption. Passwords, two-factor authentication, biometrics, device verification. Each action requires the account holder to appear and confirm themselves.
This works well for security.
But it quietly breaks something else: delegation.
Identity work
Because of this design, a surprising part of modern life is spent performing small identity rituals.
Logging in.
Entering codes.
Approving notifications.
Verifying devices.
These steps are individually trivial.
Collectively they form a kind of invisible labour.
You might call it identity work.
It is the administrative layer that sits between intention and action.
The AI paradox
This constraint also explains something curious about AI.
AI systems are increasingly capable of planning, analysing, and organising tasks. In principle they could handle many everyday administrative jobs.
But they usually cannot.
Not because they lack intelligence.
Because they lack authorised identity.
The real systems where action happens, banks, government portals, insurers, utilities, are locked behind personal authentication.
So the human remains the final operator, approving and executing steps that machines could otherwise handle.
When delegation becomes administration
Some systems attempt to support delegation through formal mandates or authorisations.
But these often turn delegation itself into another administrative task: registering permissions, managing expiry dates, renewing access codes.
The effort required to delegate can become almost as large as the task being delegated.
A missing piece of digital infrastructure
What seems largely absent from today’s digital world is a simple capability:
safe, temporary, and limited delegation of digital authority.
The ability to say:
- this person may manage this account for a period
- these actions are allowed, others are not
- access can be revoked at any time
Corporate IT systems have such mechanisms. Everyday digital services rarely do.
Closing reflection
For decades we have focused on making information easier to access and process.
But productivity may increasingly depend on something more mundane:
How easily we can act on behalf of one another in digital systems.
Real life is cooperative.
The internet, in many places, still assumes we operate alone.
Elvis Eckardt Recruitment