Originally posted on March 24, 2023 | Updated Oct. 10, 2026
Artificial intelligence is no longer the stuff of science fiction movies or conspiracy theories. It’s enabled the creation of self-driving cars, chatbots, and personal playlist curation, and it has overhauled how the internet works. So much so that it’s got some people asking, “Is AI taking over the internet?” And it’s a valid question because AI has changed how people find information, how content gets made, and how much of what you read online deserves your trust.
Let’s see how AI tools are changing the internet and what it means for your business.
What Is Artificial Intelligence?
The concept of artificial intelligence has been around longer than you might think. As far back as the 1950s, scientists have been intrigued by the idea of machine learning. In his pioneering paper, “Computing Machinery and Intelligence,” the “father of computer science,” Alan Turing, discusses the idea of machines being able to think. Since then, humans have had a general fascination—and fear—of the idea of sentient machines.
According to IBM, artificial intelligence “leverages computers and machines to mimic the problem-solving and decision-making capabilities of the human mind.”
Without getting into the weeds too much, it is worth mentioning that not all AI is the same, and there are different kinds used for different applications. Some examples of this are weak AI vs. strong AI and deep learning vs. machine learning. Common applications and services utilizing AI today include customer service (virtual agents and voice assistants), speech recognition (talk-to-text and Siri), and computer vision (self-driving cars and photo tagging).
What Kinds of AI Tools Are There?
As a digital marketing agency, we’re more concerned with creative and analytical AI tools related to content, design, data, and search. There are hundreds of them with varying price points, with new ones popping up every day, in addition to established companies implementing their own AI. Here are some of the categories pertaining to digital marketing:
- SEO and writing tools: Help with keyword research, outlines, and first drafts. Great for speeding up the grunt work, although they still require human oversight.
- Graphic design tools: Turn a text description into an image and resize or remix visuals. Handy for drafts and variations, but watch out for output that looks generic.
- Data analytics tools: Turn raw numbers into trends and next steps, but are only as good as the data you feed them.
- Search visibility tools: Track whether and how AI assistants and AI search features mention our brand. It’s a newer category worth watching.
Many of these apps and platforms offer free trials, so you can test out the product before you commit to a payment plan.
How Are AI Tools Changing the Internet?
Search
Searching used to mean typing in your question or a person, place, or thing, and sorting through a list of links that were best ranked for your query. Now, many searchers are content to read the AI Overview at the top of Google or skip the results page and ask an AI assistant like ChatGPT or Claude instead. But the answers still have to come from somewhere. They’re pulled from publishers, forums, reviews, and business websites, and one brand’s own site is only a slice of the pie.
That makes visibility more important than ever, and while ranking still matters, being the source an AI trusts enough to cite is another metric marketers have to contend for. Still, AI shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as a replacement for search engines, but more so as another discovery layer alongside it.
Check out the blogs below for a more in-depth discussion of how AI is changing search:
- How Uptick Marketing Earned Over 9,000 AI Citations in 90 Days
- How Google’s AI Overview Is Stealing Your Website Traffic
- The Role of Schema in AEO/GEO: Structuring Webpage Data for AI Search Engines
Content Marketing
One of the primary ways AI tools are changing the internet is by saving time in content marketing production. Trust us, we know how time-consuming it is to put together valuable marketing content that gets results for our clients; it’s no snap of the fingers. AI can draft outlines, headlines, images, and first drafts in minutes, which helps copywriters, graphic designers, and creators save time and complete projects faster.
It’s also why the web now has so much content that reads like it rolled off the same assembly line. While AI excels at speed and scale, depth, accuracy, and a distinct brand voice are still very human jobs.
We dig into this more thoroughly in our blog, Is AI Content Bad for SEO?
Music
Perhaps one of the first sectors to see and utilize the vast potential of AI was DSPs (digital streaming platforms). Apps like Pandora, Spotify, and Apple Music have used it for years to suggest music based on what you stream, like, and skip, and some now offer an AI host that queues up tracks and even chats with you about them. Music was just the beginning; shopping sites, streaming services, email, and ads all learn from what you do and adjust accordingly, so no two people get quite the same feedback.
Chatbots
Then there are virtual assistant chatbots on websites that answer routine customer questions or get the details of a matter that you need a real customer service agent for. These are simpler versions of LLMs that can do so much more, such as ChatGPT from OpenAI, Gemini from Google, and Microsoft Copilot; they can do everything from helping with homework to writing code or simply holding a friendly conversation. In essence, the user can ask the chatbot (almost) any question or give a command and receive an intelligent response based on AI-generated content. Every day, it seems there’s a new update to AI’s capabilities.
Is AI Taking Over the Internet?
To be honest, it’s kind of split down the middle.
Here’s where AI is gaining ground (and fast):
- Automated traffic has been growing faster than human traffic, and AI agents have moved from reading the web to making decisions based on it; that includes completing transactions.
- More of what you read online is becoming increasingly and discreetly machine-made.
- AI is gaining more control over what’s visible, summarized, and recommended in search.
Where internet habits haven’t changed:
- People still search, scroll, share, and choose. AI joined the ways people find stuff; it didn’t replace the formats entirely.
- Humans stay in charge where it counts, and advertisers and marketers are still most comfortable with AI when people remain involved in the decision-making.
- Real experience still stands out. When everything follows the cadence of “it’s not x. It’s y,” pages written by real people with an authentic voice become the ones worth citing.
You can think of AI as a librarian who’s also an aspiring author; they still need good books by different authors to accomplish their job and become better at it.
Are AI Tools Problematic?
Even though AI tools are powered by machines, they are created by humans. And with that comes the inevitable potential for human error. Most of these tools are created to help people, but that doesn’t mean problems won’t come up and errors won’t occur. And users have been quick to point these out.
Academics
For instance, there’s the issue of plagiarism and cheating by students claiming to write essays that are actually created by ChatGPT or other tools. To combat this, educators have prohibited their use. Some schools have blocked access to chatbot websites from their networks; and organizations have banned AI-generated submissions.
Misinformation
There’s also the problem of spreading misinformation if users don’t fact-check the AI-generated content they receive. After all, AI doesn’t really know the difference between what is true and what is false. In the simplest terms, the system this technology runs on, known as large language models, consumes large volumes of data and uses statistics to make an educated guess about what word comes next in a sentence.
Harmful Content
For all the good new AI tools can do, they can also create/carry out harmful content and tasks if their safeguards are broken or bypassed. Bypassing these safeguards is called jailbreaking. After this, the user can command a chatbot to generate harmful content such as writing malware, intentional disinformation, and racist, sexist, and misogynistic material. Most developers take immediate action to remedy these jailbreaks as soon as they happen, but that doesn’t always stop users from trying again.
Should You Incorporate AI Tools into Your Digital Marketing Strategy?
We know—every time you feel like you’re getting the hang of this digital marketing thing, the rug gets pulled out from underneath you. Maybe you’re wondering if you should incorporate some of these new AI tools into your digital marketing strategy. But you don’t know which one to choose from or you’re worried about your content sounding like it’s written by a robot. We get it.
At Uptick, our digital marketing team is doing everything we can to experiment, incorporate what works, and scrap what doesn’t—to our clients’ ongoing benefit. Here’s where we’ve landed: AI is a solid assistant for brainstorming, research, and organizing information, and a poor replacement for a marketer or expert who knows the subject matter. Here are a few ground rules we’ve determined to hold up no matter what the latest trending AI tool is:
- Let AI handle the grunt work; keep people in charge of judgment.
- Edit and fact-check everything before it goes live.
- Answer real questions clearly and in depth, with descriptive headings and direct answers, so people and AI systems both are more likely to cite you.
- In a world growing increasingly full of “AI slop,” protect your brand voice.
Not sure where your business stands? Contact us today, and we’ll show you where your business is visible and invisible, and what to fix first.
