How Bots Are Conquering the Internet

This illustration picture shows icons of AI apps on a smartphone screen in Oslo, Norway, on July 12, 2023. Olivier Morin/AFP via Getty Images

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Anyone who has performed a Google search, posed a query to ChatGPT, or made a purchase on Amazon has interacted with a bot—a piece of software that runs automated tasks. If you use digital technology, bots influence your life on a daily basis. Bot activity accounted for 49.6 percent of all internet traffic in 2023, according to a report by cybersecurity company Imperva.