Three years back, Elon Musk shared on Twitter that 90% of his tweet responses originated from bot accounts. His perception that Twitter functioned primarily as a bot farm was a significant factor during his purchase of the platform. Bots, particularly porn bots, have continued to be an issue on Musk’s X, attracting commentary from OpenAI’s Sam Altman.

This week, Altman tweeted, expressing astonishment at the volume of LLM-operated Twitter accounts. His remarks echoed the “We’re all trying to find the guy who did this” meme for many. As the head of a prominent AI chatbot, Altman faced some ridicule for his tweet, with users imitating ChatGPT’s style in their replies.

Altman’s comments ignited interest in the “dead internet theory.” This theory posits that a substantial portion of internet content is generated by machines, encompassing news and social media posts, and curated by algorithms to limit human engagement online. Its roots are vague, but a forum entry by IlluminatiPirate on Agora Road’s Macintosh Cafe is frequently referenced. The theory gained momentum when The Atlantic reported on it in 2021, and Elon Musk further propelled it during his 2022 bid for Twitter.

Bots have been a persistent challenge on the internet, employed for SEO, misinformation, and cybercrime. The dead internet theory now encompasses AI slop, subpar AI content churned out by content farms. This encompasses viral AI memes and videos on social media, leading to an internet inundated with low-quality content and AI interactions.

Reports of students utilizing ChatGPT for their assignments underscore the theory’s influence. Although it may seem implausible, bots present such a considerable issue that there are studies and guides designed to help identify them. The precise quantity of bot accounts on social media is undetermined, yet there has been a marked rise in bot activity, indicating the theory could be transitioning into reality.

Disclosure: Ziff Davis, the parent company of Mashable, has initiated a lawsuit against OpenAI, accusing it of copyright infringement in the training and operation of its AI systems.