Dead Internet theory
The dead Internet theory is an online conspiracy theory that asserts that the Internet now consists mainly of bot activity and automatically generated content that is manipulated by algorithmic curation, marginalizing organic human activity.<ref name="Walter2024">Walter, Y. (February 5, 2024). "Artificial influencers and the dead internet theory". AI & Society. doi:10.1007/s00146-023-01857-0. Retrieved February 8, 2024.</ref><ref name="Atlantic">Tiffany, Kaitlyn (August 31, 2021). "Maybe You Missed It, but the Internet 'Died' Five Years Ago". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on March 6, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.</ref><ref name="DAO2023">DAO, Bridgit (2023). The Metaweb The Next Level of the Internet. CRC Press. ISBN 9781000960495. Retrieved March 1, 2024.</ref><ref name="Vladisavljević2023">Vladisavljević, Radovan; Stojković, Predrag; Marković, Svetlana; Krstić, Tamara (2023). "New challenges of formulating a company's marketing strategy based on social network analysis". In Premović, Jelena (ed.). Challenges of modern economy and society through the prism of green economy and sustainable development. Educational and business center for development of human resources, management, and sustainable development. pp. 374–380. ISBN 978-86-81506-23-3.</ref><ref name="Mariani2023">Mariani, Robert (2023). "The Dead Internet to Come". The New Atlantis. 73: 34–42. Retrieved January 23, 2024.</ref> Proponents of the theory believe these bots are created intentionally to help manipulate algorithms and boost search results in order to ultimately manipulate consumers.<ref name="Mariani2023" /><ref name="Gonzales1">Gonzales III, Vic (June 28, 2023). "THE INTERNET IS DEAD: THE TRUTH BEHIND THE DEAD INTERNET THEORY". Capiz News. Archived from the original on July 4, 2023. Retrieved July 4, 2023.</ref> Furthermore, some proponents of the theory accuse government agencies of using bots to manipulate public perception, stating: "The U.S. government is engaging in an artificial intelligence powered gaslighting of the entire world population."<ref name="Atlantic" /><ref name="Mariani2023" /> The date given for this "death" is generally around 2016 or 2017.<ref name="Atlantic" /><ref name="Hennessy1" /><ref name="Ouest">"Une théorie du complot affirme qu'internet est « mort » depuis 2016". Ouest France (in French). September 6, 2021. Archived from the original on March 6, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)</ref>
The internet theory has gained traction because much of the observed phenomena is grounded in quantifiable phenomena like increased bot traffic; however, the scientific literature does not support the theory.<ref name="Atlantic" /><ref name="Vladisavljević2023"/> Caroline Busta, founder of the media platform New Models, was quoted on an article in The Atlantic describing much of the dead Internet theory as a "paranoid fantasy," even if there are legitimate criticisms involving bot traffic and the integrity of the internet; however, she stated she does agree with the "overarching idea."<ref name="Atlantic" /> Robert Mariani described the theory in an article in The New Atlantis as a mix between a genuine conspiracy theory and a creepypasta.<ref name="Mariani2023" />
Origins and development
While the exact origins of the theory are difficult to pinpoint, the dead Internet theory most likely emerged from 4chan or Wizardchan as a theoretical concept in the late 2010s or early 2020s.<ref name="Atlantic" /> In 2021, a thread titled "Dead Internet Theory: Most Of The Internet Is Fake" was published on the forum Agora Road's Macintosh Cafe, marking the spread of the term beyond these initial imageboards.<ref name="Atlantic" /><ref name="Gopani1">Gopani, Avi (September 6, 2021). "Conspiracy Theorists Says The Internet Has Been Dead Since 2016". Analytics India Magazine. Archived from the original on June 16, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.</ref> However, discussions and debates surrounding the theory have been prevalent in online forums, technology conferences, and academic circles, possibly since earlier.<ref name="Atlantic" /> It was inspired by concerns about the Internet's increasing complexity, dependence on fragile infrastructure, potential cyberattack vulnerabilities, and most importantly, the exponential increase in artificial intelligence capabilities and use.<ref name="Digs1">Dow, Warren (January 9, 2023). "The Dead Internet Theory". Digs. Archived from the original on May 18, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2023.</ref>
The theory gained traction in discussions among technology enthusiasts, researchers, and futurists who sought to explore the potential risks associated with our reliance on the Internet. The conspiracy theory has entered public culture through widespread coverage, and has been discussed on various high-profile YouTube channels.<ref name="Atlantic" /> It gained more mainstream attention with an article in The Atlantic titled "Maybe You Missed It, but the Internet 'Died' Five Years Ago".<ref name="Atlantic" /> This article has been widely cited by other articles on the topic.<ref name="Naraharisetty1">Naraharisetty, Rohitha (October 31, 2022). "What the 'Dead Internet Theory' Predicted About the Future of Digital Life". The Swaddle. Archived from the original on March 6, 2023. Retrieved March 6, 2023.</ref><ref name="Gopani1" />
Claims and evidence
Large language models
Generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs) are a class of large language model (LLM) that employ artificial neural networks to produce human-like content.<ref name=":0">"Generative AI: a game-changer society needs to be ready for". World Economic Forum. January 9, 2023. Archived from the original on April 25, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.</ref><ref name=":4">"The A to Z of Artificial Intelligence". Time. April 13, 2023. Archived from the original on June 16, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.</ref> The first of these models was developed by the company OpenAI.<ref name="gpt1">"Improving language understanding with unsupervised learning". openai.com. Archived from the original on March 18, 2023. Retrieved March 18, 2023.</ref> These models have created a significant amount of controversy. In one example, Timothy Shoup of the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies stated that, "in the scenario where GPT-3 'gets loose', the internet would be completely unrecognizable."<ref name="Hvitved1">Hvitved, Sofie (February 24, 2022). "What if 98% of the Metaverse is made by AI?". Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies. Archived from the original on June 16, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.</ref> He predicted that in such a scenario, 99% to 99.9% of content online might be AI generated by 2025 to 2030.<ref name="Hvitved1"/> These predictions have been used as evidence for the dead internet theory.<ref name="Naraharisetty1" />
ChatGPT
ChatGPT is an AI chatbot whose 2022 release to the general public led journalists to describing the dead internet theory as being potentially more realistic than before.<ref name="Hennessy1">Hennessy, James (December 18, 2022). "Did A.I. just become a better storyteller than you?". The Story. Archived from the original on June 16, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.</ref><ref name="Beres1">Beres, Damon (January 27, 2023). "Death by a Thousand Personality Quizzes". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on June 21, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2023.</ref> Before this, the dead internet theory mostly emphasized government organizations, corporations, and tech-literate individuals, but ChatGPT put the power of AI in the hands of average internet users.<ref name="Hennessy1"/><ref name="Beres1"/> This technology caused concerns that the Internet would become filled with content created by people through the use of AI that would drown out organic human content.<ref name="Hennessy1"/><ref name="Beres1"/><ref name="Agarwal1" />
2016 Imperva bot traffic report
In 2016, the security firm Imperva released a report on bot traffic and found that bots were responsible for 52% of web traffic, the first time it surpassed human traffic.<ref name="LaFrance1">LaFrance, Adrienne (January 31, 2017). "The Internet Is Mostly Bots". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on June 17, 2023. Retrieved June 17, 2023.</ref> This report has been used as evidence in reports on the dead internet theory.<ref name="Atlantic" />
In the past, the social media site Reddit allowed free access to its API and data, which allowed users to employ 3rd party moderation apps and train AI in human interaction.<ref name="Agarwal1">Agarwal, Shubham (August 8, 2023). "AI is ruining the internet". Business Insider. Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 30, 2023.</ref> In a controversial move, Reddit moved to charge for access to its user dataset. Companies training AI will likely continue to use this data for training future AI. As LLMs such as ChatGPT become available to the general public, they are increasingly being employed on Reddit by users and bot accounts.<ref name="Agarwal1" /> Professor Toby Walsh of the University of New South Wales stated in an interview with Business Insider that training the next generation of AI on content created by previous generations could cause the content to suffer.<ref name="Agarwal1" /> University of South Florida professor John Licato compared this situation of AI-generated web content flooding Reddit to the dead Internet theory.<ref name="Agarwal1" />
Twitter/X
"I hate texting" tweets
Several accounts on Twitter started posting tweets starting with the phrase "I hate texting" followed by an alternative activity, such as "i hate texting i just want to hold ur hand", or "i hate texting just come live with me".<ref name="Atlantic" /> These posts received tens of thousands of likes, and many suspected them to be bot accounts. These accounts have been used as an example by proponents of the dead internet theory.<ref name="Atlantic" /><ref name="Gopani1" />
Acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk
The percentage of user accounts run by bots became a major issue during Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter.<ref name="Duffy1">Duffy, Clare; Fung, Brian (October 10, 2022). "Elon Musk commissioned this bot analysis in his fight with Twitter. Now it shows what he could face if he takes over the platform". CNN Business. Archived from the original on June 16, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.</ref><ref name="Obrien1">O'brien, Matt (October 31, 2022). "Musk now gets chance to defeat Twitter's many fake accounts". AP News. Archived from the original on May 5, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.</ref><ref name="CBS1">"As Twitter's new owner, Musk gets his chance to defeat bots". CBS News. October 31, 2022. Archived from the original on June 16, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.</ref><ref name="Syme1">Syme, Pete (June 13, 2023). "Elon Musk's war against Twitter bots isn't going very well. Next, you'll have to pay to DM those who don't follow you". Business Insider. Archived from the original on June 16, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.</ref> During this process, Musk disputed Twitter's claim that fewer than 5% of their monetizable daily active users (mDAU) were bots.<ref name="Duffy1"/><ref name="Picchi1">Picchi, Aimee (May 17, 2022). "What are Twitter bots, and why is Elon Musk obsessed with them?". CBS News. Archived from the original on June 16, 2023. Retrieved June 16, 2023.</ref> During this dispute, Musk commissioned the company Cybra to estimate what percentage of Twitter accounts were bots, with one study estimating 13.7% and the second estimating 11%.<ref name="Duffy1"/> These bot accounts are thought to be responsible for a disproportionate amount of the content generated. This incident has been pointed to by believers in the dead internet theory as evidence.<ref name="Hughes1">Hughes, Neil C. (August 26, 2023). "Echoes of the dead internet theory: AI's silent takeover". Cybernews. Archived from the original on November 10, 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.</ref>
YouTube "The Inversion"
There is a market online for fake YouTube views to boost a video's credibility and reach broader audiences.<ref name="Keller1">Keller, Michael H. (August 11, 2018). "The Flourishing Business of Fake YouTube Views". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2023.</ref> At one point, fake views were so prevalent that some engineers were concerned YouTube's algorithm for detecting them would begin to treat the fake views as default and start misclassifying real ones.<ref name="Keller1"/><ref name="Atlantic" /> YouTube engineers coined the term "the inversion" to describe this phenomenon.<ref name="Keller1"/><ref name="Read1">Read, Max (December 26, 2018). "How Much of the Internet Is Fake? Turns Out, a Lot of It, Actually". New York:Intelligencer. Archived from the original on June 19, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2023.</ref> YouTube bots and the fear of "the inversion" were cited as support for the dead internet theory in a thread on the internet forum Agora Road's Macintosh Cafe.<ref name="Atlantic" />
In popular culture
Discussion on Twitter/X
The dead internet theory has been discussed among users of the social media platform X (formerly Twitter) Users have noted that bot activity has impacted their experience.<ref name="Atlantic" />
Coverage on YouTube
Numerous YouTube channels and online communities, including the Linus Tech Tips forums, have covered the dead Internet theory, which has helped to advance the idea into mainstream discourse.<ref name="Atlantic" />
See also
- Algorithmic radicalization
- Chinese room
- Content farm
- Deviancy amplification spiral
- Echo chamber (media) – Situation that reinforces beliefs by repetition inside a closed system
- Ethics of artificial intelligence
- Filter bubble – Intellectual isolation involving search engines
- Generative artificial intelligence
- Infodemic – Portmanteau of "information" and "epidemic"
- Link rot – Phenomenon of URLs tending to cease functioning
- Roko's basilisk
- Social bot
- Social media intelligence
- Spambot
- Stochastic parrot
- Technophobia – Fear or discomfort with advanced technology
- Turing test
- Walled garden (technology)
