Caveat: I have not used the 8GB M1, but I have a 16GB version. Here are my thoughts.
No, 8GB is not the new 16GB. 16GB is still 16GB, and 8GB is still 8GB.
8GB now might be better than 8GB then, but it’s not 16GB.
When I log in and check Activity Monitor, it shows that I have 9GB used before I have done anything except launch my login apps (which aren’t excessive).
I rebooted less than a day ago and I have almost 6 GB of swap used. The good news is that the M1 doesn’t feel like it has been swapping, but it has been swapping.
IMO, Apple should have put the baseline at 16GB but left it at 8GB to hit specific price points and profit margins. If you’re only using it for “light Internet” (I don’t even know what that means), word processing, email, etc. then you can probably “get away with” 8GB but if you plan to do more and keep it for any length of time I’d get the 16GB.