AI Bots Could Outnumber Humans Online by 2027, Says Cloudflare CEO

[chainsniff]

Matthew Prince warned that artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping internet traffic, predicting that bots could outnumber human users online by 2027. Speaking at SXSW, Prince explained that AI-driven agents are dramatically increasing web activity as they scan thousands of pages to answer user queries. Unlike humans who might visit a handful of sites, AI bots can hit thousands in seconds, creating a surge in demand across the internet.

This shift marks a major departure from the pre-AI era, when bots accounted for roughly 20% of traffic—mostly from trusted crawlers like Google. With generative AI’s “insatiable” need for data, bot traffic is now accelerating fast, forcing companies to rethink how infrastructure handles scale, security, and performance in an increasingly automated web.

[ed]

AI agents reading thousands of pages while I can’t finish one article

[Pitchfork_IS_power]

Very intresting

[Olaf]

Generalnie jest to dylemat właścicieli stron, czy zablokować dostęp do treści agentom AI i stracić dostęp do większości zapytań, powiązanych z ewentualną sprzedażą produktów, czy pozwolić agentom AI na dostęp do treści na WWW i zapłacić za zwiększony ruch na serwerach. A co ciekawe, odpowiedź na to pytanie nie musi być "TAK", lub "NIE", tylko skupiać się na tym jakie treści udostępniać, a jakie nie.

[Olaf]

Generally, the dilemma for website owners is whether to block AI agents from accessing content and lose access to most searches related to potential product sales, or allow AI agents to access content on the website and pay for the increased server traffic. Interestingly, the answer to this question isn't necessarily a "YES" or "NO," but rather a focus on what content to share and what not to share.

[febe3f2e35]

@ed Its true