Growing Concern That AI-Generated Content Is Making the Web Less Human
TechCrunch reported on September 3 that Max Spero, CEO of the AI-detection company Pangram, believes the internet is moving dangerously close to a 'dead internet' scenario. In Spero's view, the growing volume of AI-written text and AI-made images is making it increasingly difficult for users to tell machine-generated media apart from content produced by people. He also stressed that detection systems face a key challenge: distinguishing between material that is entirely generated by AI and material where a person only used AI as a supportive tool.
AI's Footprint Is Expanding Rapidly
AI-generated content is appearing more often across everyday areas such as resumes, job applications, product reviews, and insurance claims. The 'dead internet' theory holds that, over time, most online activity and content will come from automated systems rather than real human interaction. Pangram, which builds tools to identify AI-generated content, raised $9 million in July 2026 to advance its detection technology.
As part of its push for better AI detection, Pangram launched a partnership with Substack to make it visible to readers whether newsletter authors rely on AI. Pangram has also introduced a new tool for identifying AI-created images. At a time when machine-generated content is increasingly common, ensuring clear transparency around AI use is critical to avoiding harm and upholding ethical standards in media.
With technology evolving so quickly, knowing whether text or images were made by a person or an algorithm is becoming one of the internet's most urgent problems. Efforts that detect and highlight synthetic content show how important it is to build responsible AI practices. The Pangram-Substack collaboration may offer a useful example of how platforms can show users when AI is part of the content they consume, helping keep trust in digital media intact.
The rise of AI-generated content has prompted various companies to explore methods for ensuring transparency in digital media. For instance, Anthropic's recent initiative to embed invisible codes in AI-generated text highlights the growing need for tools that can identify the origins of online content. This development is part of a broader trend aimed at mitigating the risks associated with the proliferation of synthetic media.