Mainstream AI tools rely on large sets of data that they are trained on. This data, often websites, posts, comments and the like, has been created by humans (for the most part).
Reports suggest that part of the Web population is shifting towards using AI first for any of their tasks and there are good reasons (and some not so good ones) for that.
On the positive side, it is dead simple. You get an answer right away and do not have to wade through different websites in the hope that they offer the answer. Links are provided to verify the claims. And this works reasonably well for many requests.
The downside to this is that AI is still hallucinating. In plain terms, AI may return information that is inaccurate, plain wrong, or created out of thin air. That is bad, especially if the information could end up in disaster. My bet is that most users are unaware of this and take information at face value. It is also changing how the Web is used.
The consequences are severe for website publishers who rely on ads, at least those who do not have the pull to sell their data to AI companies. Traffic will drop. Google is pushing AI overviews, and this leads to less visits. Google says that this is not the case, that searchers click on links in AI overviews, but this appears exaggerated.
In the next couple of years, websites will receive less and less traffic from search. All search engines move to AI content and the reason is simple: this keeps users on their site. Means, they get to keep all the ad Dollar.
Google just introduced its AI into Chrome Canary. This too will keep users inside Chrome and Google’s vast network of services.
Granted, some sites will not be affected by this. If you offer a service that AI can’t replicate, you are likely golden. Think of downloads, streaming media, good journalism, user interactions, games and more.
The traditional newspaper or blog will have a hard time, unless it is very special. Other services, too. Think of all those flight and hotel booking sites. Agentic AI might do that directly in the browser or on a website, no need to go through dozens of sites yourself.
Yes, aggregators like Booking or Trip exist already, but AI can replicate that without issues.
Many will stop publishing or be pulled from the Internet entirely. Less traffic means less ad Dollar means less money for paying writers, hosting and administration. It is a downward spiral.
AI won’t know that certain “things” exist
But this also means less content that AI can vacuum up. If no one writes about a certain topic anymore, AI won’t know about it. It will be as if it does not exist at all.
So, when the last independent games review site shuts down, AI may not have any info about the latest games anymore. Yes, this is a bit exaggerated, as there may be reviews on Reddit or other community sites.
Still, less content means less nuanced information about a topic.
Closing Words
If you operate a website, unless you are a big corpo with AI deals already, then you might want to search for different monetization options. Reliance on ads may not cut it anymore in the future. Expect more sites to go subscription-based. Some might ask for donations. Fatigue will kick in and money can only be spend once on something.
Again, I may be a bit too pessimistic about the outlook, but the Web as we know it is changing dramatically.
Now You: what is your take on AI taking over the world and destroying the Internet as we know it? Let me know in the comment section below.
