> bots could still use sites but they effectively pay for use. That seems like the best of all possible worlds to me
This would make the entire internet a maze of AI-slop content primarily made for other bots to consume. Humans may have to resort to emailing handwritten PDFs to avoid the thoroughly enshittified web.
At the moment, ad networks don't pay for bot impressions when detected - so content farms tend to optimize for what passes for humans. All bets are off if human and bot visitors offer the same economic value via miners, or worse if it turns out that bots are more profitable due to human impatience.
Imagine an internet optimized for bot visitors, and indifferent to humans. It would be a kind of refined brainrot aimed at a brainless audience.
This would make the entire internet a maze of AI-slop content primarily made for other bots to consume. Humans may have to resort to emailing handwritten PDFs to avoid the thoroughly enshittified web.