The “Dead Internet” theory suggests that much of the internet, especially content generated after 2016-2017, is not created by humans but by bots, AI, and other automated systems. It claims that most online interactions, social media posts, and even comments are not from real people but generated by AI and curated by algorithms cynically designed to control narratives, manipulate opinions, and generate revenue.
The Dead Internet can be said to have reached it’s apotheosis in the phenomenon of “brain rot” or “slop” content – stuff generated by AI solely to grab attention for a few seconds by being as entrancing as possible in it’s weirdness.
The end stage of the Dead Internet will be when slop content has utterly polluted apps like Instagram and Facebook, what we now call the internet, and thereby terminating a large part of our culture as it is today.
I say these fears are unfounded. Why? Most human beings are fascinated primarily with themselves and other people. I believe this so strongly I will put it in quotes for maximum effect.
“Most human beings are fascinated primarily with themselves and other people, AI cannot replace the hunger for observation and approval so the Dead Internet cannot triumph.”
Content generated by machines cannot satisfy the need to observe, judge and be understood – to belong to a society. Instead, I foresee the arts, science and other creative endeavours currently being inundated with AI generated trivia will simply come to be ignored, except to the extent it helps gain social status. This is a hopeful time for us humans – by utterly trivialising the production of art, music, scientific papers and other forms of media it will help kill the artificial and contrived parts of these subjects entirely.
No more academic “scientists”. No more bad art.
Our vanity will serve as the ultimate filtering device for reality. AI slop content will melt like an iceberg in a tepid sea of ennui, it will not even be disliked.