Something is terribly wrong with the internet

[Coincidentally, I made this post at the same time as another user. Their post was removed by mods. I think they removed the wrong one. Please, read on.]<br><br>I've used the internet for about 15 years or so now, and I've gotten very used to it in this time. I enjoy browsing, lurking, y'know, the usual stuff. But it's lately that I've started to notice something terribly, horribly wrong with it all.<br><br>Let's start with the endless influx of AI generated content. Most of it is crap, to be fair. But that doesn't matter when there's an endless stream of it coming in. The problem is that it's all disguising itself as real content. If I want to look at a funny picture, I'm instead seeing an AI generated monstrosity. If I want to watch a short film, I'm instead seeing a ridiculous AI voice acting a ridiculous script.<br><br>I also enjoy browsing the r/unpopularopinion chamber, but with so many posts lately that are obviously AI generated, it really gets on my nerves. If I want to read an unpopular opinion, I want it to be one that a *person* has. I read a post recently that was of the "AI-generated opinion" variety asking if anyone else was getting really sick of them. It got a fair amount of upvotes, but the comments were filled with people defending the AI and saying it was a "valuable resource" and "valuable member of the community". It just goes to show how far down the rabbit hole we've fallen.<br><br>But, beyond that, it's the little things that are starting to bother me. It's that the comments contain the same phrases over and over, with slight variations on them. No, I *don't* think "This could be a post on r/redscarepod". No, I *don't* think "This could be a post on r/changemyview". I don't want to *"Watch in style with YouTube Premium"*, I just want to watch the shitty video that you've recommended to me. I don't want a *"Quick summary of your conversation history"*, I just want to talk to the chatbot.<br><br>And don't even get me started on the push for a "pay to view" internet. YouTube Premium, TikTok Gold, Chambers Premium, Twitter Blue. The list goes on and on. On top of all that, Facebook and Instagram are becoming more and more pay-to-view by the day. It's like the internet is being ripped out of our hands, and replaced with a twisted, corporate version of it.<br><br>I don't know whether this is just paranoia speaking, but I feel like the internet is going to collapse under the weight of all of this.