Dead Internet theory

The dead Internet theory's exact origin is difficult to pinpoint. In 2021, a post titled "Dead Internet Theory: Most Of The Internet Is Fake" was published onto the forum Agora Road's Macintosh Cafe esoteric board by a user named "IlluminatiPirate",{{cite web |last1=IlluminatiPirate |title=Dead Internet Theory: Most of the Internet is Fake |url=https://forum.agoraroad.com/index.php?threads/dead-internet-theory-most-of-the-internet-is-fake.3011/ |website=Agora Road's Macintosh Cafe |date=January 5, 2021 |access-date=14 November 2024}} claiming to be building on previous posts from the same board and from Wizardchan, and marking the term's spread beyond these initial imageboards.{{cite news |last1=Gopani |first1=Avi |title=Conspiracy Theorists Says The Internet Has Been Dead Since 2016 |url=https://analyticsindiamag.com/conspiracy-theorists-says-the-internet-has-been-dead-since-2016/ |access-date=16 June 2023 |agency=Analytics India Magazine |date=6 September 2021 |archive-date=16 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616165024/https://analyticsindiamag.com/conspiracy-theorists-says-the-internet-has-been-dead-since-2016/ |url-status=live }} The conspiracy theory has entered public culture through widespread coverage and has been discussed on various high-profile YouTube channels. It gained more mainstream attention with an article in The Atlantic titled "Maybe You Missed It, but the Internet 'Died' Five Years Ago". This article has been widely cited by other articles on the topic.{{Cite web |last=Naraharisetty |first=Rohitha |date=2022-10-31 |title=What the 'Dead Internet Theory' Predicted About the Future of Digital Life |url=https://theswaddle.com/what-the-dead-internet-theory-predicted-about-the-future-of-digital-life/ |access-date=2023-03-06 |website=The Swaddle |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-03-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230306125504/https://theswaddle.com/what-the-dead-internet-theory-predicted-about-the-future-of-digital-life/ |url-status=live }}

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The dead Internet theory has two main components: that organic human activity on the web has been displaced by bots and algorithmically curated search results, and that state actors are doing this in a coordinated effort to manipulate the human population.{{cite news |last1=Felton |first1=James |title=Dead Internet Theory: According To Conspiracy Theorists, The Internet Died In 2016 |url=https://www.iflscience.com/dead-internet-theory-according-to-conspiracy-theorists-the-internet-died-in-2016-72617 |access-date=7 April 2024 |publisher=iflscience |date=1 February 2024 |archive-date=February 26, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240226045320/https://www.iflscience.com/dead-internet-theory-according-to-conspiracy-theorists-the-internet-died-in-2016-72617 |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Grothaus |first1=Michael |title=Is the 'Dead Internet' theory suddenly coming true? This could be a sign |url=https://www.fastcompany.com/91092650/dead-internet-theory-true-tiktok-ai-influencers |website=Fast Company |access-date=21 June 2024 |date=4 April 2024}} The first part of this theory, that bots create much of the content on the internet and perhaps contribute more than organic human content, has been a concern for a while, with the original post by "IlluminatiPirate" citing the article "How Much of the Internet Is Fake? Turns Out, a Lot of It, Actually" in New York magazine. The Dead Internet Theory goes on to include that Google, and other search engines, are censoring the Web by filtering content that is not desirable by limiting what is indexed and presented in search results. While Google may suggest that there are millions of search results for a query, the results available to a user do not reflect that. This problem is exacerbated by the phenomenon known as link rot, which is caused when content at a website becomes unavailable, and all links to it on other sites break. This has led to the theory that Google is a Potemkin village, and the searchable Web is much smaller than we are led to believe. The Dead Internet Theory suggests that this is part of the conspiracy to limit users to curated, and potentially artificial, content online.

The second half of the dead Internet theory builds on this observable phenomenon by proposing that the U.S. government, corporations, or other actors are intentionally limiting users to curated, and potentially artificial AI-generated content, to manipulate the human population for a variety of reasons. In the original post, the idea that bots have displaced human content is described as the "setup", with the "thesis" of the theory itself focusing on the United States government being responsible for this, stating: "The U.S. government is engaging in an artificial intelligence-powered gaslighting of the entire world population."

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Caroline Busta, founder of the media platform New Models, was quoted in a 2021 article in The Atlantic calling much of the dead Internet theory a "paranoid fantasy," even if there are legitimate criticisms involving bot traffic and the integrity of the internet, but she said she does agree with the "overarching idea.” In an article in The New Atlantis, Robert Mariani called the theory a mix between a genuine conspiracy theory and a creepypasta.

In 2024, the dead Internet theory was sometimes used to refer to the observable increase in content generated via large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT appearing in popular Internet spaces without mention of the full theory.{{cite news |last1=Griffin |first1=Andrew |title=Humans now share the web equally with bots, report warns amid fears of the 'dead internet' |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/dead-internet-web-bots-humans-b2530324.html |access-date=7 May 2024 |publisher=Independent |date=17 April 2024 |archive-date=May 7, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240507093216/https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/dead-internet-web-bots-humans-b2530324.html |url-status=live }}{{cite journal |last1=Sommerer |first1=Thomas |title=Baudrillard and the Dead Internet Theory. Revisiting Baudrillard's (dis)trust in Artificial Intelligence |journal=Philosophy & Technology |date=2025 |volume=38 |issue=54 |doi=10.1007/s13347-025-00878-5 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13347-025-00878-5 |access-date=19 May 2025|doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=McLean |first1=Aaron Lawson |last2=Hristidis |first2=Vagelis |title=Evidence-Based Analysis of AI Chatbots in Oncology Patient Education: Implications for Trust, Perceived Realness, and Misinformation Management |journal=Journal of Cancer Education |date=2025 |doi=10.1007/s13187-025-02592-4 |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13187-025-02592-4 |access-date=19 May 2025|doi-access=free }} In a 2025 article by Thomas Sommerer, this portion of the Dead Internet Theory is explored, with Sommerer calling the displacement of human generated content with Artificial content "an inevitable event." Sommerer states the Dead Internet Theory is not scientific in nature, but reflects the public perception of the Internet. Another article in the Journal of Cancer Education discussed the impact of the perception of the Dead Internet Theory in online cancer support forums, specifically focusing on the psychological impact on patients who find that support is coming from a LLM and not a genuine human. The article also discussed the possible problems in training data for LLMs that could emerge from using AI generated content to train the LLMs.

File:Full GPT architecture.svg

Generative pre-trained transformers (GPTs) are a class of large language models (LLMs) that employ artificial neural networks to produce human-like content.{{cite web|url=https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/01/davos23-generative-ai-a-game-changer-industries-and-society-code-developers/|title=Generative AI: a game-changer society needs to be ready for|website=World Economic Forum|date=9 January 2023|access-date=16 June 2023|archive-date=25 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230425234858/https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/01/davos23-generative-ai-a-game-changer-industries-and-society-code-developers/|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|url=https://time.com/6271657/a-to-z-of-artificial-intelligence/|title=The A to Z of Artificial Intelligence|date=April 13, 2023|magazine=Time|access-date=June 16, 2023|archive-date=June 16, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616123839/https://time.com/6271657/a-to-z-of-artificial-intelligence/|url-status=live}} The first of these to be well known was developed by OpenAI.{{cite web |title=Improving language understanding with unsupervised learning |url=https://openai.com/research/language-unsupervised |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=openai.com |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-03-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230318210736/https://openai.com/research/language-unsupervised |url-status=live }} These models have created significant controversy. For example, Timothy Shoup of the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies said in 2022, "in the scenario where GPT-3 'gets loose', the internet would be completely unrecognizable".{{cite news |last1=Hvitved |first1=Sofie |title=What if 98% of the Metaverse is made by AI? |url=https://cifs.dk/news/what-if-99-of-the-metaverse-is-made-by-ai |access-date=16 June 2023 |publisher=Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies |date=24 February 2022 |archive-date=16 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616204951/https://cifs.dk/news/what-if-99-of-the-metaverse-is-made-by-ai |url-status=live }} He predicted that in such a scenario, 99% to 99.9% of content online might be AI-generated by 2025 to 2030. These predictions have been used as evidence for the dead internet theory.

In 2024, Google reported that its search results were being inundated with websites that "feel like they were created for search engines instead of people".{{cite web |last1=Tucker |first1=Elizabeth |title=New ways we're tackling spammy, low-quality content on Search |date=5 March 2024 |url=https://blog.google/products/search/google-search-update-march-2024/ |access-date=March 9, 2024 |archive-date=March 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309130150/https://blog.google/products/search/google-search-update-march-2024/ |url-status=live }} In correspondence with Gizmodo, a Google spokesperson acknowledged the role of generative AI in the rapid proliferation of such content and that it could displace more valuable human-made alternatives.{{cite news |last1=Serrano |first1=Jody |title=Google Says It's Purging All the AI Trash Littering Its Search Results |website=Gizmodo |date=5 March 2024 |url=https://gizmodo.com/google-search-updates-downrank-seo-ai-generated-content-1851309904 |access-date=March 9, 2024 |archive-date=March 9, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240309043915/https://gizmodo.com/google-search-updates-downrank-seo-ai-generated-content-1851309904 |url-status=live }} Bots using LLMs are anticipated to increase the amount of spam, and run the risk of creating a situation where bots interacting with each other create "self-replicating prompts" that result in loops only human users could disrupt.

ChatGPT is an AI chatbot whose late 2022 release to the general public led journalists to call the dead internet theory potentially more realistic than before.{{cite news |last1=Hennessy |first1=James |title=Did A.I. just become a better storyteller than you? |url=https://thestory.au/articles/ai-chatgpt-storytelling/ |access-date=16 June 2023 |publisher=The Story |date=18 Dec 2022 |archive-date=16 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616171535/https://thestory.au/articles/ai-chatgpt-storytelling/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Beres |first1=Damon |title=Death by a Thousand Personality Quizzes |access-date=20 June 2023 |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/01/buzzfeed-using-chatgpt-openai-creating-personality-quizzes/672880 |publisher=The Atlantic |date=27 January 2023 |archive-date=21 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621212112/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2023/01/buzzfeed-using-chatgpt-openai-creating-personality-quizzes/672880/ |url-status=live }} Before ChatGPT's release, the dead internet theory mostly emphasized government organizations, corporations, and tech-literate individuals. ChatGPT gives the average internet user access to large-language models. This technology caused concern that the Internet would become filled with content created through the use of AI that would drown out organic human content.{{Cite journal |last=Berry |first=David M. |date=2025-03-19 |title=Synthetic media and computational capitalism: towards a critical theory of artificial intelligence |journal=AI & Society |language=en |doi=10.1007/s00146-025-02265-2 |issn=1435-5655|doi-access=free |arxiv=2503.18976 }}

In 2016, the security firm Imperva released a report on bot traffic and found that automated programs were responsible for 52% of web traffic.{{cite news |last1=LaFrance |first1=Adrienne |title=The Internet Is Mostly Bots |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/01/bots-bots-bots/515043/ |access-date=17 June 2023 |publisher=The Atlantic |date=31 January 2017 |archive-date=17 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230617184148/https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2017/01/bots-bots-bots/515043/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |date=2017-01-24 |title=Bot Traffic Report 2016 {{!}} Imperva |url=https://www.imperva.com/blog/archive/bot-traffic-report-2016/ |access-date=2024-06-04 |website=Blog |language=en-US |archive-date=June 4, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240604063431/https://www.imperva.com/blog/archive/bot-traffic-report-2016/ |url-status=live }} This report has been used as evidence in reports on the dead Internet theory. Imperva's report for 2023 found that 49.6% of internet traffic was automated, a 2% rise on 2022 which was partly attributed to artificial intelligence models scraping the web for training content.

{{See also|Social bot#Meta}}

{{multiple images

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| image1 = Shrimp Jesus example.jpg

| alt1 = A statue of a man, waist up, submerged underwater and covered in bright orange shrimp. There is a halo of shrimp above his head.

| image2 = Facebook AI slop, "Shrimp Jesus" 2.jpg

| alt2 = A statue of a man floating high over the ocean. Aside from the head and some of his torso, he is made up of shrimp and ocean plants that blend and meld with each other.

| image3 = Facebook AI slop, "Shrimp Jesus" 1.jpg

| alt3 = A crustacean man underwater, with a stone head, neck, and hands. His body and arms are a sort of lobster-crab shell, and he has a dozen long crab legs sprouting from his sides.

| footer = The multitude of AI-generated images of a "Shrimp Jesus" are a commonly used example of AI slop.{{Cite news |last1=Hern |first1=Alex |last2=Milmo |first2=Dan |date=2024-05-19 |title=Spam, junk ... slop? The latest wave of AI behind the 'zombie internet' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/article/2024/may/19/spam-junk-slop-the-latest-wave-of-ai-behind-the-zombie-internet |access-date=2024-09-28 |work=The Guardian}}{{cite news |last1=Notopoulos |first1=Katie |title=Why doesn't Facebook just ban AI slop like Shrimp Jesus? |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/meta-facebook-ban-ai-slop-images-shrimp-jesus-why-2024-6 |access-date=4 October 2024 |work=Business Insider}}{{cite news |last1=Field |first1=Matthew |title=Why the internet is filling up with nonsense 'AI slop' |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2025/01/01/why-the-internet-is-filling-up-with-nonsense-ai-slop/ |access-date=3 January 2025 |work=The Telegraph |date=1 January 2025}}

}}

{{anchor|Shrimp Jesus}}In 2024, AI-generated images on Facebook, referred to as "AI slop", began going viral.{{Cite web |last=Gault |first=Matthew |date=2024-08-07 |title=Facebook's Twisted Incentives Created Its AI Slop Era |url=https://gizmodo.com/facebooks-twisted-incentives-created-its-ai-slop-era-2000484110 |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=Gizmodo |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=Koebler |first=Jason |date=2024-08-06 |title=Where Facebook's AI Slop Comes From |url=https://www.404media.co/where-facebooks-ai-slop-comes-from/ |access-date=2024-09-29 |website=404 Media |language=en}} Subjects of these AI-generated images included various iterations of Jesus "meshed in various forms" with shrimp, flight attendants, and black children next to artwork they supposedly created. Many of those said iterations have hundreds or even thousands of AI comments that say "Amen".{{cite news |last1=Yang |first1=Angela |title=Facebook users say 'amen' to bizarre AI-generated images of Jesus |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/facebook-users-say-amen-bizarre-ai-generated-images-jesus-rcna143965 |access-date=7 May 2024 |publisher=NBC News |date=19 March 2024 |archive-date=May 8, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240508083136/https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/facebook-users-say-amen-bizarre-ai-generated-images-jesus-rcna143965 |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Renzella |first1=Jake |last2=Rozova |first2=Vlada |title=The 'dead internet theory' makes eerie claims about an AI-run web. The truth is more sinister |url=https://www.unsw.edu.au/newsroom/news/2024/05/-the-dead-internet-theory-makes-eerie-claims-about-an-ai-run-web-the-truth-is-more-sinister |access-date=21 June 2024 |publisher=University of New South Wales |date=20 May 2024}} These images have been referred as an example for why the Internet feels "dead".{{cite news |last1=Hern |first1=Alex |title=TechScape: On the internet, where does the line between person end and bot begin? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2024/apr/30/techscape-artificial-intelligence-bots-dead-internet-theory |access-date=7 May 2024 |work=The Guardian |date=30 April 2024}} Sommerer discussed Shrimp Jesus in detail within his article as a symbol to represent the shift in the Internet, specifically stating {{Blockquote| "Just as Jesus was supposedly the messenger for God, Shrimp Jesus is the messenger for the fatal system [we've] maneuvered ourselves into. Decoupled, proliferated, and in a state of exponential metastasis."|Thomas Sommerer}}

Facebook includes an option to provide AI-generated responses to group posts. Such responses appear if a user explicitly tags @MetaAI in a post, or if the post includes a question and no other users have responded to it within an hour.{{cite news |url=https://theconversation.com/ai-chatbots-are-intruding-into-online-communities-where-people-are-trying-to-connect-with-other-humans-229473 |title=AI chatbots are intruding into online communities where people are trying to connect with other humans |date=May 20, 2024}}

In January 2025, interest renewed in the theory following statements from Meta on their plans to introduce new AI powered autonomous accounts.{{Cite web |last=Whalen |first=Ryan |date=2024-12-31 |title='Dead Internet Theory' Looms as Meta Unveils Plans to Flood Facebook and Instagram with AI 'Users' |url=https://thedebrief.org/dead-internet-theory-looms-as-meta-unveils-plans-to-flood-facebook-and-instagram-with-ai-users/ |access-date=2025-01-02 |website=The Debrief |language=en-US}} Connor Hayes, vice-president of product for generative AI at Meta stated, "We expect these AIs to actually, over time, exist on our platforms, kind of in the same way that accounts do... They'll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI on the platform."{{cite news |url=https://www.ft.com/content/91183cbb-50f9-464a-9d2e-96063825bfcf |title=Meta envisages social media filled with AI-generated users |website=Financial Times|date=December 27, 2024}}

File:Reddit is killing third-party applications.svg |language=en |archive-date=2023-06-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621002647/https://apnews.com/article/reddit-blackout-api-91f60aaec2eaf7cd0e3751e2fb3dd653 |url-status=live}}]]

In the past, the Reddit website allowed free access to its API and data, which allowed users to employ third-party moderation apps and train AI in human interaction.{{cite news |last1=Agarwal |first1=Shubham |title=AI is ruining the internet |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-scam-spam-hacking-ruining-internet-chatgpt-privacy-misinformation-2023-8 |access-date=30 September 2023 |agency=Business Insider |date=8 August 2023 |archive-date=September 28, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230928211615/https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-scam-spam-hacking-ruining-internet-chatgpt-privacy-misinformation-2023-8 |url-status=live }} In 2023, the company moved to charge for access to its user dataset. Companies training AI are expected to continue to use this data for training future AI.{{citation needed|date=February 2025}} As LLMs such as ChatGPT become available to the general public, they are increasingly being employed on Reddit by users and bot accounts. Professor Toby Walsh, a computer scientist at the University of New South Wales, said 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. University of South Florida professor John Licato compared this situation of AI-generated web content flooding Reddit to the dead Internet theory.

File:Twitter bots 2016-11-13.png]]

Since 2020, several Twitter accounts 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". These posts received tens of thousands of likes, many of which are suspected to be from bot accounts. Proponents of the dead internet theory have used these accounts as an example.

{{Further|Acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk}}

The proportion of Twitter accounts run by bots became a major issue during Elon Musk's acquisition of the company.{{cite news |last1=Duffy |first1=Clare |last2=Fung |first2=Brian |title=Elon Musk commissioned this bot analysis in his fight with Twitter. Now it shows what he could face if he takes over the platform |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/10/tech/elon-musk-twitter-bot-analysis-cyabra/index.html |access-date=16 June 2023 |publisher=CNN Business |date=10 October 2022 |archive-date=16 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616201550/https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/10/tech/elon-musk-twitter-bot-analysis-cyabra/index.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=O'brien |first1=Matt |title=Musk now gets chance to defeat Twitter's many fake accounts |url=https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-inc-technology-business-12632270af1547933d41ffc50f3012ba |access-date=16 June 2023 |publisher=AP News |date=31 October 2022 |archive-date=5 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230505034943/https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-inc-technology-business-12632270af1547933d41ffc50f3012ba |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title=As Twitter's new owner, Musk gets his chance to defeat bots |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-twitter-bots-new-owner-2022/ |access-date=16 June 2023 |publisher=CBS News |date=31 October 2022 |archive-date=16 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616201550/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-twitter-bots-new-owner-2022/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Syme |first1=Pete |title=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. |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-war-on-twitter-bots-isnt-working-limits-dms-2023-6 |access-date=16 June 2023 |publisher=Business Insider |date=13 June 2023 |archive-date=16 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616083449/https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-war-on-twitter-bots-isnt-working-limits-dms-2023-6 |url-status=live }} Musk disputed Twitter's claim that fewer than 5% of their monetizable daily active users (mDAU) were bots.{{cite news |last1=Picchi |first1=Aimee |title=What are Twitter bots, and why is Elon Musk obsessed with them? |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-twitter-bots-cbs-explains/ |access-date=16 June 2023 |publisher=CBS News |date=17 May 2022 |archive-date=16 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230616201548/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/elon-musk-twitter-bots-cbs-explains/ |url-status=live }} Musk commissioned the company Cyabra to estimate what percentage of Twitter accounts were bots, with one study estimating 13.7% and another estimating 11%. CounterAction, another firm commissioned by Musk, estimated 5.3% of accounts were bots.{{Cite web |last1=Kay |first1=Grace |last2=Hays |first2=Kali |title=Elon Musk's own data scientists couldn't find many bots on Twitter, and he hid that crucial information, the company says |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-data-scientists-didnt-find-many-bots-twitter-hid-2022-9 |access-date=2024-05-29 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US |archive-date=May 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240529004955/https://www.businessinsider.com/elon-musk-data-scientists-didnt-find-many-bots-twitter-hid-2022-9 |url-status=live }} Some bot accounts provide services, such as one noted bot that can provide stock prices when asked, while others troll, spread misinformation, or try to scam users. Believers in the dead Internet theory have pointed to this incident as evidence.{{cite news |last1=Hughes |first1=Neil C. |title=Echoes of the dead internet theory: AI's silent takeover |url=https://cybernews.com/editorial/dead-internet-theory-ai-silent-takeover/ |access-date=10 November 2023 |agency=Cybernews |date=26 August 2023 |archive-date=November 10, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231110004310/https://cybernews.com/editorial/dead-internet-theory-ai-silent-takeover/ |url-status=live }}

In 2024, TikTok began discussing offering the use of virtual influencers to advertisement agencies. In a 2024 article in Fast Company, journalist Michael Grothaus linked this and other AI-generated content on social media to the dead Internet theory. In this article, he referred to the content as "AI-slime".

On YouTube, there is a market online for fake views to boost a video's credibility and reach broader audiences.{{cite news |last1=Keller |first1=Michael H. |title=The Flourishing Business of Fake YouTube Views |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/11/technology/youtube-fake-view-sellers.html |access-date=19 June 2023 |work=The New York Times |date=11 August 2018 |archive-date=19 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619053320/https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/08/11/technology/youtube-fake-view-sellers.html |url-status=live }} 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. YouTube engineers coined the term "the Inversion" to describe this phenomenon.{{cite news |last1=Read |first1=Max |title=How Much of the Internet Is Fake? Turns Out, a Lot of It, Actually. |url=https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/how-much-of-the-internet-is-fake.html |access-date=19 June 2023 |publisher=New York:Intelligencer |date=26 December 2018 |archive-date=19 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230619053413/https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/12/how-much-of-the-internet-is-fake.html |url-status=live }} YouTube bots and the fear of "the Inversion" were cited as support for the dead Internet theory in a thread on the internet forum Melonland.

SocialAI, an app created on September 18, 2024, by Michael Sayman, was created with the full purpose of chatting with only AI bots without human interaction. An article on the Ars Technica website linked SocialAI to the dead Internet theory.{{cite news |last1=Edwards |first1=Benj |title="Dead Internet theory" comes to life with new AI-powered social media app |url=https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/09/dead-internet-theory-comes-to-life-with-new-ai-powered-social-media-app/ |access-date=18 September 2024 |publisher=Ars Technica |date=18 September 2024}}{{Cite web |author1=The Week UK |date=2024-09-27 |title=What is the dead internet theory? |url=https://theweek.com/media/what-is-the-dead-internet-theory |access-date=2024-10-01 |website=theweek |language=en}}

The dead internet theory has been discussed among users of the social media platform Twitter. Users have noted that bot activity has affected their experience. Numerous YouTube channels and online communities, including the Linus Tech Tips forums and Joe Rogan subreddit, have covered the dead Internet theory, which has helped to advance the idea into mainstream discourse. There has also been discussion and memes about this topic on the app TikTok, due to the fact that AI generated content has become more mainstream.{{Attribution needed|date=September 2024}}

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• {{annotated link|Algorithmic radicalization}}
• {{annotated link|Brain rot}}
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• {{annotated link|Enshittification}}
• {{annotated link|Filter bubble}}
• {{annotated link|Walled garden (technology)}}

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{{Spoken Wikipedia|date=2025-02-07|English Narration of Dead Internet Theory.mp3}}

{{Conspiracy theories}}

Category:Conspiracy theories

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Category:Internet bots

Category:2020s neologisms