Is most of the content on the internet fake? Here’s what the dead internet theory really means – and why we should be warier of how we’re manipulated for profit and political gain.
Go to any of the “question” subreddits (AITA, TIFU, AskReddit, Two Hot Takes etc etc) and tell me that 95% of the content isn’t posts by LLM. Claiming its a throwaway is an easy way to hide the fact that it’s a new user with no post history, only difference is now they interact with users to get better understanding of where social lines are drawn.
Every single one has a username like danger -skyscraper-1376 and is obviously a chat GPT scenario asking obtuse questions that normal humans wouldn’t need guidance on “my wife slept with the entire office, but we’re illegal immigrants with 15 kids and divorce isn’t an option. AITA if I want a PS5 pro that I don’t share with anyone but my alternate Partner??”
The internet isn’t “dead” but it is a corpse marionette that tells people whatever they want to hear, gives them straw man enemies made of everything they love to hate, and convinces them everything they think and feel is absolute truth.
I think, we may frequent very different parts of the internet and thus have different views on how much is AI generated. Maybe you’re right and Reddit/Xwitter/Facebook/etc are dominated by bots, I can’t judge on my own about that
So where exactly on the internet are you that’s bot free?
News articles are pumping out AI stories, websites chat help is often AI bots, social media is literally a bot farm with human spectators.
Unless you are reading blogs from people you know who aren’t familiar with chat GPT, or you’re entirely online for small/niche discussion groups, I’d say you’re exposed to far more AI content than you realize.
I’m not suggesting everything is fake bot content with some people mixed in yet, but in 5 years it probably will be.
Much harder for people to organize, or even get exposed to reality, if their digital experience is a walled garden of pushed bot content.
Go to any of the “question” subreddits (AITA, TIFU, AskReddit, Two Hot Takes etc etc) and tell me that 95% of the content isn’t posts by LLM. Claiming its a throwaway is an easy way to hide the fact that it’s a new user with no post history, only difference is now they interact with users to get better understanding of where social lines are drawn.
Every single one has a username like danger -skyscraper-1376 and is obviously a chat GPT scenario asking obtuse questions that normal humans wouldn’t need guidance on “my wife slept with the entire office, but we’re illegal immigrants with 15 kids and divorce isn’t an option. AITA if I want a PS5 pro that I don’t share with anyone but my alternate Partner??”
The internet isn’t “dead” but it is a corpse marionette that tells people whatever they want to hear, gives them straw man enemies made of everything they love to hate, and convinces them everything they think and feel is absolute truth.
The usernames are randomly generated when creating an account. It could simply be people that can’t be bothered to change it, like I did.
It’s no secret that old popular posts including popular top comments are reposted by bots though.
I think, we may frequent very different parts of the internet and thus have different views on how much is AI generated. Maybe you’re right and Reddit/Xwitter/Facebook/etc are dominated by bots, I can’t judge on my own about that
So where exactly on the internet are you that’s bot free?
News articles are pumping out AI stories, websites chat help is often AI bots, social media is literally a bot farm with human spectators.
Unless you are reading blogs from people you know who aren’t familiar with chat GPT, or you’re entirely online for small/niche discussion groups, I’d say you’re exposed to far more AI content than you realize.
I’m not suggesting everything is fake bot content with some people mixed in yet, but in 5 years it probably will be.
Much harder for people to organize, or even get exposed to reality, if their digital experience is a walled garden of pushed bot content.