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The 'Dead Internet Theory'

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Re: The 'Dead Internet Theory'

#11

Post by flir »

marginalia_nu wrote: post #10

The algorithms make it very hard to judge how much human content actually remains. The bot content is very successful at displacing the human content, since it's engineered to maximize visibility in a way most humans don't bother with.

It's funny that we have solutions (eg web of trust) we've just roundly rejected them. Normally I'd say that means the solution's broken. But today I'm feeling misanthropic so I'm wondering if the solutions are fine, and the humans are broken.

Either way, the end-state in Accelerando is looking more and more prescient.

(Fby vf znqr ubfgvyr gb uhzna yvsr ol cncrepyvc znkvzvfref gung unir qrnq-raqrq gurzfryirf vagb n Erq Dhrra'f Enpr-fglyr fgehttyr sbe pbzchgngvbany erfbheprf. Uhznaf hc fgvpxf naq zbir arkg qbbe).

Re: The 'Dead Internet Theory'

#12

Post by StefanBatory »

On Reddit it's common occurence to see someone bring up that top comments are stolen from other ones word for word.

At this moment I feel it's impossible to believe in any comment on the internet unless you can vouch for the person.

Re: The 'Dead Internet Theory'

#13

Post by xjay »

Somewhat related: "The Egg" [2009*] is a fictional short story by American writer Andy Weir. [1]

> You, a 48-year-old man who dies in a car crash, meet God, the narrator, who says that you have been reincarnated many times before, and that you are next to be reincarnated as a Chinese peasant girl in 540 AD. God then explains that you are, in fact, constantly reincarnated across time, and that all human beings who have ever lived and will ever live are incarnations of you. [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Egg_(Weir_short_story)

Kurzgesagt adaptation of the story (31M views):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6fcK_fRYaI

Re: The 'Dead Internet Theory'

#14

Post by drjakerenzella »

I’m one of the authors of this article, great to see it shared to HN. It’s been interesting to see how the article has resonated with people, and that many of us are feeling the same way about the internet we know and love.

I think one of the responses to the growing phenomenon, especially as LLMs make fake content even easier and more convincing, is that we will see increased uptake on platforms like Discord where you have a curated and more intimate circles. Or maybe those like Musk will get his way and platforms like X will require paid verification!

Re: The 'Dead Internet Theory'

#15

Post by sneak »

drjakerenzella wrote: post #14

I’m one of the authors of this article, great to see it shared to HN. It’s been interesting to see how the article has resonated with people, and that many of us are feeling the same way about the internet we know and love. I think one of the responses to the growing phenomenon, especially as LLMs make fake content even easier and more convincing, is that we will see increased uptake on platforms like Discord where y…

Bots are software tools used by humans to publish, just like web browsers. Nothing on the internet happens without human intent.

Re: The 'Dead Internet Theory'

#16

Post by 130e13a »

houseplant wrote: post #7

I watched a great video essay about this. Bots to create fake articles, bots to defect fake articles, bots to use common word salad to evade detection, bots detecting the word salad, bots to make comments on articles, bots to upvote those comments, bots to aggregate these articles and generate articles out of the comments, bots to rip off and change a bit of the wording of an article so they could repost the article,…

do you have a link to the video essay you're referencing?

Re: The 'Dead Internet Theory'

#17

Post by SideburnsOfDoom »

shzhdbi09gv8ioi wrote: post #2

> The dead internet theory essentially claims that activity and content on the internet, including social media accounts, are predominantly being created and automated by artificial intelligence agents. The theory predates the current era of AI generated content: > The dead Internet theory's exact origin is difficult to pinpoint, but it most likely emerged from 4chan or Wizardchan as a theoretical concept in the late…

I remember reading a short piece about "The old abandoned Internet on the edge of Town" well before 2010.

Possibly it was extrapolating from the ruins of MySpace and similar.

Re: The 'Dead Internet Theory'

#18

Post by openrisk »

The writing is clearly on the wall for the "internet" as there is no visible restoring force. If its not dead already, its getting pretty close.

It is a sort of tragedy of the digital commons, where the commons in this instance is the availability of extremely usable digital channel for people to communicate online in a decentralized way.

The early pioneers were really excited about the empowering potential of all this, but alas they did not work out the full dynamics of human nature (seeking short term profit, influence and control) especially when it is combined with the amplifying impact of automation and algorithms.

In short, the channel is being ruined by noise, the signal is swamped, the digital commons is being overgrazed and dying.

Nobody feels responsible for this. The stewardship of this most unique resource that was gifted to us by the digital age is laughable. A cacophony of commercial and state interests that have not produced a single positive development in the last thirty years since the invention of the web.

Re: The 'Dead Internet Theory'

#19

Post by 8organicbits »

Engagement tuned algorithms degrade your internet experience, but you don't need to subject yourself to them. There is still lots of quality, organic, human written content on the web. If you are seeing too much AI slop, your platform is failing, stop using Facebook et al.

Today I recomment using tools like Mastodon and RSS, they are a breath of fresh air. You may encounter AI generated or shallow content, but you can prevent it by unfollowing or blocking. Curate your news feed. Your mental health is worth the effort.

As the major social networks continue to enshittify themselves, interest in indieweb and the fediverse is growing. I've been building an RSS directory based on parsing blogrolls to form a recommendation network, as one example. It's still an early release.

- https://indiewebify.me/

- https://alexsci.com/rss-blogroll-network/

Re: The 'Dead Internet Theory'

#20

Post by lloeki »

houseplant wrote: post #7

I watched a great video essay about this. Bots to create fake articles, bots to defect fake articles, bots to use common word salad to evade detection, bots detecting the word salad, bots to make comments on articles, bots to upvote those comments, bots to aggregate these articles and generate articles out of the comments, bots to rip off and change a bit of the wording of an article so they could repost the article,…

> the essay mentioned a comic series called BLAME, in which machines programmed to build cities, buildings, infrastructure, got derailed after humanity perished, endlessly creating walkways and stairs and buildings to nowhere, for nobody, forever unempeded, as they were programmed.

This is BLAME! (with the bang) by Tsutomu Nihei. There's a one tankobon prequel: NOISE.

Definitely a recommended read. The art is magnificent, the mastery of perspective incredible, managing to give you a sense of the unconceivable scale of the megastructure and by way of consequence, the mind-boggling energy involved in some events. It made me feel vertigo in spite of the small tankobon pages. The storytelling is top notch: few words, but a very complex story and setting connected through a ton of small details.

SNIKT! is a crossover with Wolferine (or rather, Logan), an unexpectedly excellent rendition of the character.

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