For nearly three decades, the internet thrived on a simple economic bargain: users got free content, and publishers earned revenue through ads, subscriptions, or affiliate links. But that equilibrium is now collapsing. Artificial intelligence ~ ironically built on the bones of that same free content ~ is disrupting the very web it learned from. Chatbots powered by large language models are fast replacing the need to visit web sites altogether. Whether it’s a travel itinerary, a product review, or a medical explanation, AI can now synthesise information instantly, often more fluently than the original source. The result is a sudden and severe drop in web traffic to traditional publishers, educational institutions, forums, and independent creators. And with that decline goes the core incentive to produce and maintain quality information on the open web.

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