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The internet is becoming an increasingly stressful and unpleasant environment, and the main culprits are low-quality AI-generated content and leaks of personal information. People are gradually turning away from the Internet because spending time there is no longer enjoyable.
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A survey by Incogni revealed growing frustration among Internet users. Respondents cited the proliferation of AI-generated junk and leaks of confidential data as the main sources of stress and anxiety while using the Internet. A significant number of people are seeking to reduce the time they spend online by deleting their social media accounts and messaging apps.
For a long time, the collection of personal data for the purpose of displaying ads, tracking activity, and improving services was viewed as an acceptable price to pay for access to the World Wide Web. However, today many people are convinced that using the Internet will inevitably lead to the theft or disclosure of their data.
A study by Incogni found that more than 50% of Internet users believe the disclosure of their confidential information is inevitable, with 63% noting that this fear is what causes them anxiety while online.
In addition, users now fear that they are no longer able to distinguish between genuine posts by people and content generated by AI. This not only erodes trust in the internet but also dampens the desire to use it in general: nearly 50% of people are now less confident in the authenticity of what they see online.
You’ve probably had to accept or reject cookies or review privacy policies thousands of times before visiting yet another website. Every accepted cookie tracks your habits and behavior on web pages to display personalized ads that are more likely to be clicked. Cookies also help maintain your login status and store your information on websites.
Although this is precisely why a vast number of websites remain free for visitors, sometimes your data ends up with advertisers or third-party intermediaries, where it is stored without adequate protection and can be stolen or leaked.
Among the 1,000 users surveyed, concerns about data leaks were strongest among Millennials and Gen Xers. Specifically, 56% of Gen Xers and 55% of Millennials are convinced that their information will sooner or later be hacked or made public, which indicates how common such incidents are online. Only 11% of respondents rated the likelihood of their own data being leaked as low.
AI-powered content creation has experienced a dramatic surge in recent years. Social media platforms are overflowing with AI “authors” whose pages either share automatically generated content or scrape the internet for posts likely to attract an audience and publish them under their own names. Such profiles require almost no human involvement, yet they are capable of distributing posts on an industrial scale and generating huge profits from advertisers.
If you’ve been scrolling through Instagram recently, you may have seen videos from AI accounts with identical captions such as “Tonight, V stepped into the crowd…” or “Japan is turning steps into electricity.” In these descriptions, keywords are used to manipulate Instagram’s algorithms by targeting trending topics in order to boost engagement, even if the video itself has nothing to do with the text. However, this makes it increasingly difficult for people to discern what is real on the internet.
According to the study, 48% of participants admitted that they are losing confidence in the authenticity of content, while 40% emphasized that they are concerned about the lack of accountability for deepfake creators. In addition, 27% of respondents stated that AI-generated content is causing them to spend less time online, and 16% complained that viewing low-quality generated content increases their feelings of fatigue and exhaustion. Only 8% of respondents noted that AI-generated content had improved their user experience.
There is also some positive perception of AI-generated content: 12% of people indicated that such content makes it easier to access information, and slightly fewer – 11% – expressed admiration for the creative possibilities that AI opens up.
Perceptions of time spent online are also changing. More than half of the Gen Z respondents (51%) believe they spend too much time consuming online content; 43% of millennials and 42% of Gen Xers share this view.
Whether it’s replying to emails, scrolling through social media, shopping for furniture, or looking for a restaurant – today, the Internet has become a necessity for most users. And every time a new website is opened – whether for work or personal reasons – it increases the amount of information that could potentially become publicly accessible.
All of this is leading people to start avoiding the Internet. 58% of respondents admitted that they had deleted a social media or messaging app account due to stress, anxiety, or concerns about their privacy. As noted in a study by Incogni, it appears that the costs of interacting with such platforms are beginning to outweigh any expected or actual benefits.
Incogni also asked whether users were willing to pay for an internet free of tracking and algorithms. Thirty percent of respondents answered in the affirmative, but this decision depended significantly on income level: people with higher incomes were more likely to express a willingness to pay for privacy, while respondents with more modest incomes were less likely to choose this option.
For many internet users, privacy should be a basic guarantee, not a luxury. By sharing personal data with advertisers, people place a certain amount of trust in them and expect protection against leaks or theft; however, actual attitudes indicate that these expectations are not being met at all.
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