Dead Internet theory
The dead Internet theory is an online conspiracy theory that asserts that the Internet now consists almost entirely of bot activity and automatically generated content that is manipulated by algorithmic curation, marginalizing organic human activity.[1][2][3][4] These intelligent bots are assumed to have been made, in part, to help manipulate algorithms and boost search results in order to ultimately manipulate consumers.[5] Further, proponents of the theory accuse government agencies of using bots to manipulate public perception.[1] The date given for this "death" is generally around 2016 or 2017.[1][4][6]
Origins and development
The dead Internet theory emerged as a theoretical concept in the late 2010s or early 2020s.[1][7] While the exact origins of the theory are difficult to pinpoint, some point to a thread titled "Dead Internet Theory: Most Of The Internet Is Fake" on the forum Agora Road's Macintosh Cafe in 2021 as the origin of the term.[1][8] However, discussions and debates surrounding the theory have been prevalent in online forums, technology conferences, and academic circles, possibly since earlier.[1][7]
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.[9] 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.[1] It gained more mainstream attention with an article in The Atlantic titled "Maybe You Missed It, but the Internet 'Died' Five Years Ago".[1] This article has been widely cited by other articles on the topic.[3][7][8]
Claims and evidence
Large language models
Generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs) are a type of large language model (LLM) that employ artificial neural networks to produce human-like content.[10][11] The first of these models was developed by the company OpenAI.[12] 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."[13] He predicted that in such a scenario, 99% to 99.9% of content online might be AI generated by 2025 to 2030.[13] These predictions have been used as evidence for the dead internet theory.[3]
ChatGPT
ChatGPT is an AI chatbot whose 2022 release to the general public gave new attention to the dead internet theory.[6][14] Before this, the dead internet theory mostly emphasized government organizations, corporations, and tech-savvy individuals, but ChatGPT put the power of AI in the hands of average internet users.[6][14] 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.[6][14]
Imperva Bot Traffic Report 2016
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.[15] This report has been used as evidence in reports on the dead internet theory.[1]
"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".[1] 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.[1][8]
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.[16][17][18][19] During this process, Musk disputed Twitter's claim that less than 5% of their monetizable daily active users (mDAU) were bots.[16][20] 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%.[16] These bot accounts are thought to be responsible for a disproportionate amount of the content generated.[7] This incident has been pointed to by believers in the dead internet theory as evidence.[7]
YouTube
The inversion
There is a market online for fake YouTube views to boost a video's credibility and reach broader audiences.[21] 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.[21][1] YouTube engineers coined the term "the inversion" to describe this phenomenon.[21][22] YouTube bots and the fear of "the inversion" were cited as support for the dead internet theory in the "Agora Road's Macintosh Cafe" thread.[1]
Coverage on YouTube
Numerous YouTube channels, including the channel Linus Tech Tips, have covered the dead Internet theory, which has helped to advance the idea into mainstream discourse.[1]
See also
- Algorithmic curation – Curation of media using computer algorithms
- Algorithmic radicalization – Radicalization via social media algorithms
- Chinese room – Thought experiment on artificial intelligence by John Searle
- Content farm – Web site with a high volume of low-cost articles
- Deviancy amplification spiral – Media hype phenomenon
- Echo chamber (media) – Situation that reinforces beliefs by repetition inside a closed system
- Ethics of artificial intelligence – Ethical issues specific to AI
- Filter bubble – Intellectual isolation involving search engines
- Link rot – Phenomenon of URLs tending to cease functioning
- Roko's basilisk – AI thought experiment
- Social bot – Software agent that communicates on social media
- Spambot – Computer spam program (malware)
- Stochastic parrot – Term used in machine learning
- Turing test – Test of a machine's ability to imitate human intelligence
- Walled garden (technology) – System where a single company controls an entire ecosystem
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Tiffany, Kaitlyn (2021-08-31). "Maybe You Missed It, but the Internet 'Died' Five Years Ago". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
- ^ "Is the internet secretly dead? Plus: bots and bye-byes on our final episode". The Guardian. 15 June 2022. Retrieved 31 May 2023.
- ^ a b c Naraharisetty, Rohitha (2022-10-31). "What the 'Dead Internet Theory' Predicted About the Future of Digital Life". The Swaddle. Archived from the original on 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
- ^ a b "Une théorie du complot affirme qu'internet est « mort » depuis 2016". Ouest France (in French). 6 September 2021. Archived from the original on 2023-03-06. Retrieved 2023-03-06.
- ^ Gonzales III, Vic (28 June 2023). "THE INTERNET IS DEAD: THE TRUTH BEHIND THE DEAD INTERNET THEORY". Capiz News. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
- ^ a b c d Hennessy, James (18 Dec 2022). "Did A.I. just become a better storyteller than you?". The Story. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
- ^ a b c d e McCall, Isaiah (September 24, 2022). ""The Dead Internet Theory" is New and Spreading Everywhere". Yard couch. Medium. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ a b c Gopani, Avi (6 September 2021). "Conspiracy Theorists Says The Internet Has Been Dead Since 2016". Analytics India Magazine. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
- ^ Dow, Warren (January 9, 2023). "The Dead Internet Theory". Digs. Retrieved 18 May 2023.
- ^ "Generative AI: a game-changer society needs to be ready for". World Economic Forum. 9 January 2023.
- ^ "The A to Z of Artificial Intelligence". Time. April 13, 2023.
- ^ "Improving language understanding with unsupervised learning". openai.com. Archived from the original on 2023-03-18. Retrieved 2023-03-18.
- ^ a b Hvitved, Sofie (24 February 2022). "What if 98% of the Metaverse is made by AI?". Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
- ^ a b c Beres, Damon (27 January 2023). "Death by a Thousand Personality Quizzes". The Atlantic. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
- ^ LaFrance, Adrienne (31 January 2017). "The Internet Is Mostly Bots". The Atlantic. Retrieved 17 June 2023.
- ^ a b c Duffy, Clare; Fung, Brian (10 October 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. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
- ^ O'brien, Matt (31 October 2022). "Musk now gets chance to defeat Twitter's many fake accounts". AP News. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
- ^ "As Twitter's new owner, Musk gets his chance to defeat bots". CBS News. 31 October 2022. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
- ^ Syme, Pete (13 June 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. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
- ^ Picchi, Aimee (17 May 2022). "What are Twitter bots, and why is Elon Musk obsessed with them?". CBS News. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
- ^ a b c Keller, Michael H. (11 August 2018). "The Flourishing Business of Fake YouTube Views". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
- ^ Read, Max (26 December 2018). "How Much of the Internet Is Fake? Turns Out, a Lot of It, Actually". New York:Intelligencer. Retrieved 19 June 2023.