Question: As I understand a gravel bike, it's basically a road frame but perhaps with a slightly more upright riding position. It has wider tires with much deeper treads and a stiffer rubber than standard road bike tires. What is the theory behind these changes? I had always thought that the thicker and stiffer tires were to prevent small bits of gravel from pinching flats, but is the theory instead that the deeper treads and wider tires are supposed to increase traction? And what is the rationale for the upright riding position?

Answer: 
GCN had a funny take on this recently: [Gravel bikes exist because mountain biking is now boring](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XC_xFpg_UmA). Or to give slightly more nuance, mountain bikes make it so easy to ride over difficult terrain that they remove the challenge.

Coming at it from the opposite direction, road cycling may be losing some popularity because A) roads in many places are poorly maintained due to austere public-works budgets, and B) motorists are motorists. Which creates some demand for something that you can ride on bad roads/roads that motorists don't drive on.

Gravel bikes generally are designed for a little more comfort and stability than a road-racing bike--more in line with a road "endurance" bike. Hence the more upright position and slacker angles. Some people ride gravel bikes with fat slicks—I don't think you can make any sweeping judgments about tires, other than they're fatter than road tires.
What is called a "gravel bike" is really a new word for a cyclocross bike, but with maybe a tad less aggressive geometry. And cyclocross goes back pretty much to the beginning of bicycling, as the first races were held on unpaved courses and no roads were paved yet, or at best cobbled. The original road bikes looked a lot more like today's cyclocross bikes, only a pound or three heavier.

I personally don't like the name "gravel bike". Gravel is the stuff they dump along the train tracks near my house to deter mountain bikers, or the stuff you decorate your yard with if you live in places like Las Vegas, but I rarely encounter gravel out on the trails here in northern California. Maybe some gravely stuff mixed in with loose dirt intermittently, but there's nothing too fun or challenging about riding on a layer of gravel as there is a natural dirt or muddy path.

In theory, I doubt you will be able to ride one off road without encountering mostly dirt. The style of bike is ideally suited for trails. They should call them "fire road bikes" or something more realistic if "cyclcocross bike" is too worn out for the marketers.

I would call the bike I commute to work on a gravel bike because I built it with a steeper stem to bring the bar up so I can see traffic easier, and a single, low gear, 38/18t. But it started life as a 'cross bike. A gravel bike might be ideal as a commuter bike, especially if you can outfit it with panniers, lights, etc.