The Dead Internet Theory

Have you ever been watching YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, or Facebook, and then went to comment on a video, only to see all the comments and wonder, are those comments even real? Is the video even made by a human? Well, that is the dead internet theory. 

The dead internet theory is about there being more companies and AI than real humans on social media apps (YouTube, Twitter (X), Instagram, etc.). This theory has gained popularity over the years since AI has been improving. People are also using AI for YouTube videos, using new “Italian brainrot” characters on YouTube Shorts. Most of the time, they’re animals combined with some type of animal. Many people call this AI “slop,” which is AI content that takes no skill or creativity. On the subject of YouTube Shorts, it hasn't helped, actually making it worse with millions of views on these AI YouTube shorts. This has been shown when AI likes Grok, a bot on Twitter that responds to other people on the website, helping people and making connections. It’s also been shown that most videos contain AI voices or AI-generated content. 

APPS USING AI

Many apps are being advertised that use AI, or generate AI; it's always AI ads, especially on YouTube Shorts and TikTok. It has gotten to the point where an app called Duolingo, which offers a language learning game-like experience, has fired ALL of its employees and replaced them with AI. After they received backlash from this, they hired new employees and started making videos to help them become relevant again. Another company, named Channel One News, a news service that uses AI news hosts to announce its news, has been found to use AI in its news.

Written By Matias Gonzalez and Luke Roley

Edited By Noah Hampton