The internet is becoming more stressful and unlikeable — with AI slop and data leaks to blame

An Incogni survey has found people are becoming more frustrated with the internet Users cite AI slop and data leaks as the main reasons for stress and anxiety when using the internet Many users want to spend less time online, and are deleting social media profiles and messaging For years, personal data collection for advertising, tracking, and service improvement was thought to be the fair price to pay to access the world wide web.

But now, many people believe that using the internet will lead to their data being leaked or exposed.

A new Incogni survey found more than half of internet users believe their personal data will inevitably be exposed, with 63% stating that this fear causes anxiety when using the internet.

But beyond this, internet users now fear they can no longer tell what is real content uploaded by a human and what is AI generated, not only eroding trust in the internet, but also making people not want to use the internet at all.

Almost half of internet users are less sure of what is real on the internet.

Inevitable data exposure You’ve likely been prompted thousands of times to accept or reject cookies, or review a privacy policy before using a website.

Every cookie you accept will collect data on your browsing habits and behavior on sites in order to display personalized adverts that you are more likely to click.

Cookies also help keep you logged in and store your information on websites.

While this helps make many websites across the web free to use for those accessing them, sometimes your data is sold to advertisers or third-parties where it is stored insecurely, and can be stolen or leaked .

Among the 1,000 internet users surveyed, the fear of data exposure was strongest among the Millennials and Gen X generations.

56% of Gen X and 55% of Millennials believed that their data would at some point be breached or exposed, showing just how normal data breaches and exposure have become online.

Just 11% of those surveyed believed there was little likelihood of their data being breached. (Image credit: Incogni) AI is making the internet less real AI content creation has exploded in recent years.

Social media sites are full of AI ‘creators’ whose pages either share AI generated content or scrape the internet for content that users are likely to interact with, and share it through their own pages.

These profiles require little human input, but can share content at an industrial scale and reap huge rewards from advertisers.