Re: <nettime> nettime-l Digest, Vol 36, Issue 10

[Gustavo Romano via nettime-l <nettime-l@lists.nettime.org>]

Gustavo Romano

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El mar, 16 jun 2026, 12:00, <nettime-l-request@lists.nettime.org> escribió:

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> Today's Topics:
>
>    1. Re: Fwd: [Internet Policy] There are now more bots than
>       humans on the internet. (GM - tedbyfield)
>    2. essay on generative AI and the visual politics of tomorrow:
>       Gaza, Trump, etc. (donatella della ratta)
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Message: 1
> Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2026 09:01:46 -0400
> From: GM - tedbyfield <tedbyfield@gmail.com>
> To: nettime-l <nettime-l@lists.nettime.org>
> Subject: Re: <nettime> Fwd: [Internet Policy] There are now more bots
>         than humans on the internet.
> Message-ID: <6A64BB2B-B18A-4E32-8C4B-43205EFEC03A@gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
>
> Adam ?
>
> I?ve seen this news bubble up in a few places, and it seems to
> conflict with what I?ve heard elsewhere from sources I thought at the
> time were reliable, FWIW. The numbers they mentioned were far *worse*,
> in the 70?80% range. In particular, they said a huge segment of that
> was bots of unknown origin: maintainers and purposes not disclosed at
> best, or deliberately and effectively obscured at worst. But those
> people were talking about specific contexts like libraries, so that
> might be a factor in the different numbers ? obviously, I don?t
> know.
>
> By the same token, it?s worth asking what Cloudflare?s context is
> and how that would shape how they present things. It isn?t hard to
> imagine why many internet infrastructure companies might be reluctant to
> admit to numbers like that ? for example, paying clients might object
> to subsidizing robot invasions and demand the companies actually do
> something to mitigate it. It seems like that?d be a serious risk for
> Cloudflare in particular, for a few reasons: (1) they *are* unusually
> well-positioned to suppress bot traffic, but (2) doing so could cost a
> lot and be very error-prone ? all downside in terms of reputational
> risk and their bottom line.
>
> But that suggests Cloudflare is lying, maybe brazenly. For a company
> whose business rests largely on trust, that?d be unwise, so I doubt
> they are. But, following the same distinction about known-vs-unknown
> bots, their 57% number could includes *only* traffic they know with
> absolutely certainty is a bot. If so ? *if* ? it?d be a good
> example of a phenomenon we all know well: using ?rigorous
> methodology? to hide the truth.
>
> To be clear: this is all just my speculation. In a pinch, I?d trust
> Cloudflare first.
>
> Cheers,
> Ted
> - -
> https://counter.ink
>
>
> On 15 Jun 2026, at 3:53, Adam Burns wrote:
>
> > there goes the neighbourhood.
> >
> > .a
> >
> > -------- Forwarded Message --------
> > Subject:      [Internet Policy] There are now more bots than humans on
> the
> > internet.
> > Date:         Tue, 9 Jun 2026 17:57:46 +0200
> > From:         Carsten Schiefner via InternetPolicy
> > <internetpolicy@elists.isoc.org>
> > Reply-To:     Carsten Schiefner <carsten@schiefner.de>
> > To:   internetpolicy@elists.isoc.org <internetpolicy@elists.isoc.org>
> >
> >
> >
> > Dear all -
> >
> > I consider this remarkable, e.g. in terms of a potentially coming
> > change of money flows or why civil society would and/or should still
> > be interested in Internet Governance when most stuff on the Internet
> > is now of non-human origin.
> >
> > Best,
> >
> > ??? -C.
> >
> > -------- Forwarded Message --------
> > Subject:      [ih] There are now more bots than humans on the internet.
> > (Elias Al)
> > Date:         Mon, 8 Jun 2026 11:45:12 -0700
> > From:         the keyboard of geoff goodfellow via Internet-history
> > <internet-history@elists.isoc.org>
> > Reply-To:     the keyboard of geoff goodfellow <geoff@iconia.com>
> > To:   Internet-history <internet-history@elists.isoc.org>
> >
> >
> >
> > For the first time in history.
> >
> > Cloudflare just confirmed it.
> >
> > Bots and AI agents now generate more web traffic than humans for the
> > first
> > time in internet history. Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince described it
> > as a
> > major turning point. Automated bot requests account for roughly 57% of
> > traffic to ordinary webpages worldwide, compared with about 43%
> > generated
> > by humans.
> >
> > And the CEO who announced it did not do so with a polished press
> > release or
> > a prepared statement.
> >
> > He posted four words on X on June 3, 2026: "Welp, that happened
> > faster." [
> > https://x.com/eastdakota/status/2062212701414187452]
> >
> > Here is the full context behind those four words.
>   <. . .>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Message: 2
> Date: Tue, 16 Jun 2026 08:09:46 +0200
> From: donatella della ratta <ddr.mediaoriente@gmail.com>
> To: "<nettime> is a moderated mailing list for net criticism,
>         collaborative text filtering and cultural politics of the nets"
>         <nettime-l@lists.nettime.org>
> Subject: <nettime> essay on generative AI and the visual politics of
>         tomorrow: Gaza, Trump, etc.
> Message-ID:
>         <CA+p7Fs=
> vX7O_a-p4qZ9AkZTGY2+MstYaHNH2d_NrDTYp-iDreg@mail.gmail.com>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
>
> Hello nettimers
> I wanted to share my essay on generative AI and violence which is just out
> on Cambridge Forum on AI Culture and Society
>
> https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-forum-on-ai-culture-and-society/article/speculative-violence-and-the-future-archive-generative-ai-memory-and-the-visual-politics-of-tomorrow/8267FD8DE51D76E5A0433D623491644B
>
> This develops the concept of Speculative Violence, at the core of my
> upcoming book
> https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/2882-speculative-violence
>
> I look forward to comments and feedback from those who will have the time
> and interest to read it
> cheers, donatella
>
>
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> End of nettime-l Digest, Vol 36, Issue 10
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