The Dead Internet Theory
by Kyle VanSaun
This is my website for my ENGL 102 Unit IV Project. Exploring how AI and automation might be transforming the internet into a space dominated mainly by artificial content
This is my website for my ENGL 102 Unit IV Project. Exploring how AI and automation might be transforming the internet into a space dominated mainly by artificial content
The theory suggests that most online content is already generated by AI systems and bots, creating a facade of human activity while the real internet decays.
AI-generated content is flooding social media, forums, and even news sites, making it harder to distinguish human from machine.
From what I found 70-50% of web content may already be AI-generated (Elgan 2025)
Artificial Intelligence has been used to simulate and over power online activity. Simulating human internet behaviors like creating social media post or commenting on other users posts.
47% of internet traffic is non-human (Mariani 2023)
As authentic human interaction decreases, the theory predicts the internet will become a ghost town of artificial content.
38% decline in organic content since 2018 (Liu 2024)
As far as I can tell, most people believe in the theory because of the overwhelming evidence and capabilities of AI online activity.
The technology is capabale, and if you've been on the internet its impossible not to see AI generated content and AI activity online.
"The internet is increasingly filled with content generated by AI for AI, with humans becoming the secondary audience."
— Anonymous forum post, 2021
Examining the data behind bot activity and AI-generated content online
Estimated % of internet traffic from bots
Increase in AI-generated social media posts
of all internet traffic in 2023 was non-human
AI activity can be sporadic and random, but usually persists in social spaces online much like the dots in the demonstration above.
This article talks about how Meta’s increasing use of AI generated content across its platforms suggests that the company validates aspects of the Dead Internet Theory. The author discusses how AI automation, engagement, and usage feeds and detaches users from authentic human interactions. The article gives points about Meta’s strategies using AI and how they plan to further use AI. This article is useful because it gives insight into conspiracies about big tech companies, why they use AI, and what they could potentially do with AI driven technologies.
In this paper, the author explores the Dead Internet Theory as a natural cultural reaction to the increasing use and development of AI on digital spaces. This source takes a more sociological approach, offering insight into why people may believe in the theory. It uses historical parallels and psychological data as claims that I can use when writing my paper. It also supports my thesis by showing how misinformation can often stem from real concerns like AI.
The paper gives a summary of the Dead Internet Theory and its popularity online, including interviews with conspiracy believers and quotes from professionals working with AI. It presents very useful data on chatbot use and AI generated content across social platforms which I would really like to reference in my paper. I think the data shown is useful for understanding the public perception of AI and the Dead Internet Theory.
This article talks about how AI models trained on biased or false data sets can produce content that misinforms users. Pretty self explanatory. The author uses legal and technological strategies to show how data can contaminate information for AI chatbots. Overall, there are many vulnerabilities with AI and I think this source is vital for showing how these vulnerabilities can cause the spread of misinformation.
This article reviews the current efforts to use AI to combat misinformation, a counter argument to the dead internet theory. The author shows how algorithms can fix misinformation, for example detecting fake news. The author also shows how AI is limited in its uses, like how there's only so much data an AI can be trained on. This source is a good argument, showing that while AI contributes to misinformation that it also has the potential to combat it.
How the Dead Internet Theory affects digital culture and information online