AI on the Web: A Third of Pages Since ChatGPT Are Bot-Written

A lot, more than we think. A recent study found that a third of web pages published since ChatGPT's arrival show clear signs of AI authorship. It's a thought-provoking figure, especially if you spend hours scrolling feeds and reading articles online.

Since ChatGPT's launch in November 2022, the presence of machine-generated content has exploded. The research, conducted by Originality.ai, analyzed millions of pages to understand the phenomenon's extent. This means a significant portion of what we read online might never have passed through a human brain. It's a bit like your neighbor being a robot, but you still greet them every morning.

Yes, and it's more insidious than it seems. AI not only writes from scratch but often edits and summarizes human texts, making it hard to distinguish the original from the robotic "touch-up." Algorithms have become incredibly good at mimicking human style, making it almost impossible for the untrained eye to tell who wrote what.

Many websites, even reputable ones, use these tools to scale content production, perhaps for a company blog or product descriptions. Originality.ai, a company that makes AI detection tools, conducted a study that revealed AI content in a third of web pages since November 2022. This raises quite a few questions about quality, originality, and, let's face it, boredom. If all texts are written by AIs learning from each other, aren't we risking reading the same warmed-up soup constantly?

For us users, it means sharpening our instincts and not taking everything at face value. For content producers, it's an arms race between those writing with AI and those trying to unmask it. Search engines like Google are already looking for ways to reward "human" and high-quality content.

But it's a tough battle when AI is so good at disguising itself and producing at very low costs. Many publishers and content creators are using AI models not only to generate new texts but also to revise and optimize existing articles. Perhaps, one day, we'll have a "human-guaranteed" sticker on every article. Until then, our critical brain remains the best AI detector. Or at least, we hope so.