Is the internet really dead? What does it even mean for the internet to die?
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If you've asked these questions or heard them before, you might have come across some questionable Reddit or 4chan circles. The reason I say this is that these questions are often linked to a conspiracy theory known as the “Dead Internet Theory”.
Dead Internet Theory is a conspiracy theory that suggests that much of the internet now is comprised of bot activity. Now since this is a conspiracy theory, that’s not all there is to it. There are two components of this theory. The first (and in my opinion sane) one is the assertion that the internet is now filled with bot-generated content, contributing more than humans. This means your average interaction online is more likely with bots than with humans.
The second, and less sane, one is that government organizations and corporations utilize this bot activity to influence search results and public opinion. Basically, if said government wants to control information on a specific topic, it will deploy bots to interact more with favorable content. This increased interaction boosts the content's ranking in search results, making it more accessible to the public. Now, this component of the Dead Internet Theory goes deep, perhaps uncomfortably deep. So, we won’t be talking about that. But I do find the first component of the theory fascinating and worth discussing and (please don’t call me a conspiracy theorist) with merit.
Bot Infestation?
First things first, is it true that the majority of the internet is made up of bot activity? Well, kinda. In 2016, a cybersecurity firm called Imperva found that bots caused 52% of all web traffic. This was the same year that the Dead Internet Theory started taking off. Three years earlier, in 2013, YouTube found that bots were responsible for half of its traffic. In 2019, Facebook was said to shut down 5.2 BILLION fake accounts. As if all of this wasn’t concerning enough, guess who came along to make it worse? Yep, AI.
Since the introduction of ChatGPT and its likes, the Dead Internet Theory has become closer to reality than ever. Before we see why, let me introduce a concept in machine learning.
Reinforcement Learning
In machine learning, reinforcement learning is a method of training an AI model using rewards and punishments to guide its behavior. Think of it like training a dog. You give it treats when it obeys and scold it when it disobeys. In this case, our “treats” could be the engagement rate. The AI model could produce different types of content and after measuring the engagement rate, mimic those contents with higher rewards i.e. engagement. Now, it’s important to remember that for all intents and purposes, AI is dumb. You can train an AI model to believe 1+1=3 because it doesn’t so much care about the content as the reward/punishment that follows it. And this is crucial to understanding how the Dead Internet Theory is becoming increasingly plausible.
The Case of Facebook
From privacy breaches to racism and violence promotion, our boy Zuckerberg’s brainchild is never short of controversies. And now, there has been a recent influx of AI-generated content flooding the social media. These creations include classic works such as “Shrimp Jesus” and "photos" of a young African boy with his creation (e.g., some statues made of plastic bottles). Out of respect for the audience, I can’t feature images of shrimp Jesus (google at your own discretion), but feast your eyes with the rest of what AI has been posting on Facebook:
Look at the feet on this one!
Bizarre right? What’s weird is not just the images themselves, but the engagement they are getting. Posts like these are raking in hundreds of thousands of likes and thousands of comments. And guess again who is responsible for all that engagement? Yep, AI.
Remember what we said earlier about how AI treats engagements as a reward? Well as AI bot accounts churn out absurdities like the above and other AI bots increasingly engage with it, they continue to produce more bizarre content. Remember, AI is dumb. It doesn’t care about the content it’s producing. So where are all the actual human users in all this? Apart from being the receivers of such horrors, honestly, no one knows.
I’ve said too much. So I’ll end with saying this; once again an unregulated “unleashment” of AI that was devoid of any ethical considerations is to blame here. Eventually, people are gonna get fed up with content like this and leave the platform altogether. This may also bring negative implications for social media companies, as advertisers may no longer want to advertise to bots who can’t purchase their products. Is there a solution for this? Maybe. But I don’t know it (and neither do you). So best thing we can do is grab some popcorn and watch this dumpster fire burn. Au revoir!
