“Researchers have long feared that if AI-made content online overwhelms human-created material, large language models could choke on their own exhaust and collapse.”
– Megan Morrone
A 2025 study of 65,000 online articles shows a close to even split between human authorship and pieces generated by AI models, Axios exports. Earlier concerns had been raised that GenAI content would soon flood the Internet, in turn creating a glut of synthetic content when training future AI models.
The study by SEO-specialist Graphite was conducted between January 2020 – May 2025.
Axios says the Graphite researchers found a brief period when AI content outpaced publishing by human writers (November 2022) that susbequently oscillated up and down around 50%. The last measured ratio was 52% AI – 48% human. The Axios report contextualizes these results by citing 2022 analysis from Europol Innovation Lab that projected as much as 90% of online content would be AI-generated by 2026.
AI writing hasn’t overwhelmed the web yet | AXIOS | October 14, 2025 | by Megan Morrone