I’ve heard of it being a problem online but I never got a clear explaination of it, if my definition is correct it would explain a lot of things on certain places.
In: Technology
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So the [dead internet theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Internet_theory) is a **conspiracy** theory that the internet died years ago (somewhere in 2016 or 2017 is the alleged date) and the vast majority of activity today is automated activity manipulated by an algorithm for the purpose of manipulating the population of the world for *insert reason*.
This is the kind of thing that starts as a joke or thought experiment, and then somehow evolves into people actually believing it. What makes ideas like this particularly sinister and sticky is that they are at least somewhat based in fact. There are bots on the internet, there are algorithms that are attempting to optimize content and results for a purpose. However, it does not hold that because those things exist that the entire internet is only those things.
Or hey, maybe I am just a language model so advanced that I sounds like a normal person talking to you.
Answer: It’s a conspiracy theory that *basically the entire internet* is, and has been for some time – or has *always been -* generated by bots and AI. Including, probably, your question and my comment.
This is *different than* the recent wave of AI bots, because it started being a theory a long time before high-quality generative text AI (like ChatGPT) that could plausibly generate that much human-seeming text.
While there always has been a certain amount of machine-generated text online, there’s never been any evidence or strong reason to believe that “its’ all fake” which is what the DIT proposes. In cases where it’s really “bots talking to bots,” like on a lot of Twitter (X) threads, it tends to be pretty obvious.
In my experience it about increasingly smart AI’s engaging with you and creating content. Coupled with an increasing commercialization of the internet by larger companies. Eventually (I can already notice this) the things you search for are basically buzzfeed articles or other garbage that looks legit. And even further in this process even the people you engage with will be AI generated and won’t be real. You might as well be without internet.
I mean, the biggest problem I see with this theory is, *I’m* real and interacting with the internet (I think) so, to believe this, wouldn’t I havta be the *only* real person? Does everyone who subscribes to this conspiracy believe they are the *only* real person? Lol
The idea, in a nutshell, is that the internet has been full of bots talking to each other for several years now. So full that humans are actually in the minority.
there’s some really good videos on YouTube about this.
I keep this one bookmarked:
[part one](https://youtu.be/DEn758DVF9I?feature=shared)
[part two](https://youtu.be/6FtPvDGrpkA?feature=shared)
Basically just a running theory that more people on the internet than you think are bots to the point where a majority of your online interactions are with bots and not real humans
It’s essentially “What if all the content you saw was actually just bot generated?”.
Unlikely, but if you’ve looked at a comment section on a tweet recently you’ll see why people might think that.
Dead Internet Theory is a speculative concept suggesting that the internet as we know it has ceased to evolve and innovate, leading to a stagnation or decline in creativity, content quality, and user engagement. Proponents of this theory argue that the internet has become saturated with repetitive content, clickbait, and commercialization, stifling the growth of new and meaningful online experiences. However, it’s important to note that this theory is subjective and not universally accepted, as the internet continues to evolve and adapt to new technologies and user behaviors.
Sent from CHAT GPT
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