Dead Internet theory

"The Dead Internet Theory is a conspiracy theory that suggests the Internet is now mostly made up of bot activity and automatically generated content, marginalizing human activity. The theory claims that the Internet “died” around 2016 or 2017, making it difficult to find genuine information or interact with real people online. The theory also suggests that this is done to manipulate consumers and create new cultural products."

"The Dead Internet Theory is a conspiracy theory that suggests the Internet has died and that much of the content we see online is now artificially generated by AI to manipulate the world population. The theory raises concerns about the impact of AI on propaganda, art, and journalism."

"Like all good conspiracy theories, the Dead Internet Theory takes a kernel of truth or agreed sentiment (that the internet is getting worse, and that bot activity is increasing) and twists it into something it isn't."

"In short, social media is becoming less about connecting humans to other people but about consuming content and getting hooked by deliberately targeted dopamine hits in our brains, leading to a multiplication of online addictions and behavioral difficulties. An emerging problem of this shift is encapsulated in the so-called “Dead Internet Theory”, which posits that the internet is predominantly populated by AI-generated content, relegating human activity to isolated instances. Ten years ago, the theory used to be rather speculative, but with the wake of generative AI, it can now be observed first-hand, and it highlights a disturbing trend: the blurring lines between human and AI-driven interactions."

"What makes the Dead Internet a nameworthy conspiracy is that even though it is rooted in selective truths that are exaggerated or even taken to their logical extremes, it also draws attention to a legitimate problem"

"The theory that the internet is 100% dead can be easily disproven, but the theory does hint at something real. The internet certainly is full of “bots”, autonomous bits of software that are definitely not alive."

"i never took the dead internet theory that seriously but it seems like there are really a lot of LLM-run twitter accounts now."

"the dead internet consists of spaces that host content that is generated by artificial intelligence but is intended for human consumption."