A new study shows that a whopping 35% of websites created between 2022 and 2025 are either fully or partly generated by artificial intelligence. This isn't just about the quantity, though; it's also changing the quality of online content.

The research team found that AI-generated writing is increasingly sanitized and artificially cheerful, with a 107% higher positive sentiment score compared to non-AI sites. The effect is described as 'sycophantic and overoptimistic,' much like a friend who always tries too hard not to hurt your feelings.

Another shocker: AI websites are less ideologically diverse, scoring roughly 33% higher on testing for 'semantic similarity' than those created by humans. This suggests that the internet is becoming a more homogeneous space, where original thoughts and unique viewpoints might be fewer and farther between.

The study also debunked several common assumptions about AI writing. It didn’t lead to an increase in misinformation or stop linking out to external sources, contrary to expectations. Instead, it produced content that was stylistically diverse, much to the surprise of the researchers who had predicted a more generic output.

Overall, this study highlights how AI is transforming the web but also reminds us that our predictions about technology’s impact can often be off the mark. As AI continues to evolve, one thing is certain: it will keep surprising us in ways we might not have anticipated.