53% of internet traffic is no longer generated by humans: how will this change everyday life?
More than half of global internet traffic today comes from bots – automated programs that perform various tasks online without direct human involvement. This is shown by the „Bad Bot Report“, an annual internet traffic analysis by the technology and cyber security company „Thales“. According to the latest 2026 report, bot-generated traffic accounted for 53%, and human traffic for 47%. A year earlier the ratio was 51% and 49%. The report notes that the expansion of artificial intelligence is contributing ever more to the growth of automated internet traffic.
As internet technology expert and head of „Etanetas“ – one of the first internet service providers in Lithuania – Artur Stefanovič notes, many people still associate AI only with tools such as „ChatGPT“ or „Gemini“. Yet in his view, the role of AI online today is far more significant.
„Until quite recently, most actions online were carried out by people – they searched for information, communicated, bought goods or watched videos. Today an ever larger share of these tasks is performed by AI tools. They analyse information, generate answers, look for data. For now most of them help people complete specific tasks faster, but the technology is developing rapidly. The internet is now becoming a space in which not only people, but also artificial intelligence is actively at work,“ says A. Stefanovič.
By 2028, as much as 33% of business software will use artificial intelligence (AI) agents capable of independently performing tasks online, forecasts the global technology research company „Gartner“. According to experts, this means that in the coming years not only internet infrastructure will change, but also home internet needs, and a stable, reliable connection will become even more important than it is today.
AI is changing home internet needs too
Artificial intelligence is gradually arriving in the devices we use at home. More and more of them perform part of their functions in the cloud, constantly sending and receiving data, and some already use AI as well.
„Home internet today is used by considerably more than a single computer or phone. At the same time, one family member may be watching a high-definition video over the internet, another taking part in a remote meeting, while surveillance cameras and other smart devices are also connected to the network. Now AI is being added to all of this.
That is why, when choosing internet, people should assess more than just the advertised speed. Connection stability, low latency and the quality of the wireless network at home are becoming increasingly important. In other words, what matters is not only the speed the provider promises, but also how the connection performs under real conditions, when the whole family and a multitude of different devices are using it at once,“ says the head of „Etanetas“.
The next step – AI agents acting on your behalf
According to A. Stefanovič, the coming years will bring more and more AI agents capable of independently performing tasks online.
„AI agents will be able to search for information on the user's behalf, plan trips, book hotels, compare product prices or make purchases. The difference is that they will not just provide an answer, as AI tools mostly do today, but will also be able to act on their own. For example, when planning a trip, an AI agent will be able not only to find the most suitable flight or hotel, but also to book it.
People will perform fewer actions online themselves, yet more will be performed on their behalf. That is why a reliable internet connection will become infrastructure not only for what we do online ourselves, but also for what AI does for us,“ says the internet technology expert.