# Fears over internet theory coming true as AI agents flood the web > Source: > Published: 2026-08-21 12:27:38+00:00 # Fears over internet theory coming true as AI agents flood the web - A new [Pew Research Center](/topic/pew-research-center)[study](/topic/study)reveals that 35 per cent of web pages published since the release of[ChatGPT](/topic/chatgpt)show significant signs of AI editing or authorship. - Across a five-year archive of nearly half a million [English](/topic/english)-language web pages, 10 per cent overall showed significant signs of AI creation. - The findings reinforce concerns over the dead [internet](/topic/internet)theory, which suggests the web is increasingly generated and consumed by automated systems rather than humans. - The research highlighted a rise in specific AI writing habits, including doubled usage of em dashes and words like delve, with .com [websites](/topic/websites)being the most affected. - Researchers used the text-analysis tool Open Pangram on a large web dataset to identify broader statistical trends across the internet.