Have you heard of the Dead Internet Theory? It’s been gaining traction on the site formerly known as Twitter, now “X.”
What Is The Dead Internet Theory?
The Dead Internet Theory is the belief that the vast majority of internet traffic, posts and users have been replaced by bots and AI-generated content, and that people no longer shape the direction of the internet.
The theory was floating around 4Chan in the late 2010’s, but it was solidified and amplified in 2021 after a lengthy post describing the theory was posted on a thread titled “Dead Internet Theory: Most Of The Internet Is Fake,” on the forum Agora Road’s Macintosh Cafe.
Writing about the theory for The Atlantic, Kaitlyn Tiffany described the post as the “ur-text,” setting the shape of the theory to come. Tiffany even managed to contact the original poster, a Californian man who claimed to earnestly believe the words he wrote.
His post describes a sense of unease, paranoia and loneliness, expressing deep disappointment at the state of the modern internet. He suggests that AI has successfully drowned out the majority of online human activity, reshaping the internet into a more controlled, algorithmic form that exists only to sell products and ideas.
But the theory goes further than simply condemning today’s internet as dull, corporate slop — the post suggests that we rarely interact with real humans on the internet, or even see posts created by them. He also delves into some strange ideas, suggesting that the popularity of Raptor Jesus, Foul Bachelor Frog and Pepe the Frog memes are evidence of an evolving AI life-form changing its shape.
The post was written back in 2021, before the commercial release of ChatGPT and before AI became such a hot topic (although, it was always a subject of speculation and discussion). Now, the theory has become something of a meme and semi-ironic description of the internet.
Last week, the Dead Internet Theory was widely cited after a post on “X” drew attention to the platform’s bot infestation.
What Happened With The Bots On X (Twitter)?
A popular post on X comparing the sound of Kazakh to “a diesel engine trying to start in winter” currently sits at more than 24,000 likes and 2000 reposts.
Whether the caption is relevant is difficult to say, as the video was mistakenly uploaded with no audio; thus, many users assumed bots were mindlessly liking the post.
This led X users to repost the video and declare that the site formerly known as Twitter was “cooked.” Nowadays, this is a common talking point on the site.
Regular X users have long been complaining about the amount of inane, irrelevant and clearly AI-generated replies that have infested X lately; a swarm of bots have descended on the site like flies on a turd, turning reply chains into endless, pointless pleasantries between no one.
Although X users still manage to find witty and weird replies from their fellow humans, the proliferation of bots is affecting the user experience. Others noted that it isn’t just X — generative AI is also being used to autofill product descriptions and names on Amazon.
For several months, artists and writers have lamented that the internet is being filled with AI-generated pictures that have no value beyond novelty, and AI-generated writing that no one wants to read.
The rapid accumulation of AI-generated garbage was predicted by critics the moment the technology was introduced, and those predictions are slowly coming to fruition.
Like the great plastic garbage patch that floats on the surface of the ocean, the AI-generated slop is starting to rise to the top.
It’s not quite the Dead Internet Theory — humans are still providing the majority of content and conversation on Twitter, Reddit, Facebook and TikTok — but it seems as though the conspiracy theory could become depressingly close to reality.
Is The Dead Internet Theory Real?
There’s bots out there, sure, but the theory does not describe the internet of today, let alone in 2021. Social media sites have always taken measures to block spam bots, and still do, even as the bots are evolving, aided by generative AI.
At the moment, generative AI is not capable of creating good content by itself, simply because AI cannot understand context. The vast majority of posts that go viral — unhinged opinions, witticisms, astute observations, reframing of the familiar in a new context — are not AI-generated.
The internet might feel boring, broken, spammy and algorithmic, but we are not drifting alone in a sea of electronic NPCs. Other than reposting content made by people, bots don’t lead the internet in the way the theory suggests — influencers do, and the bots follow their lead.
The weird, witty commentary, willful misinterpretations, personal attacks and unhinged opinions that fuel online discourse is still flowing from human users. But the AI-generated garbage that surrounds it appears to be increasing.
There are points in the “ur-text” that have truth to them, and have only become more relevant in the years since. For example, algorithms do dictate our browsing experience, and can make (or break) viral posts.
The internet of today is much more sterile than the wild, unpredictable internet of the past, as the diverse ecosystem of small, user-created sites was replaced by a handful of huge platforms built by large corporations who seek to monetize our browsing and sharing, often to the detriment of user experience.
The internet of today feels far more restricted and corporate than it ever has. Even Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, is disappointed with the state of his creation, stating: “The Web is not the Web we wanted in every respect.”
There are still interesting, funny things happening online all the time, but the good stuff is becoming increasingly harder to find, and trends are blurring into marketing campaigns — like the Stanley cup, and even the Grimace Shake.
The Dead Internet Theory might not reflect the reality of the average browsing experience, but it does describe the feeling of boredom and alienation that can accompany it.
Like the best conspiracy theories, the Dead Internet Theory fictionalized a depressing truth; the internet has been walled off by mega-corporations, and is now beginning to fill up with AI-generated sludge.
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