Mortuus Internet Theoria
When you start innocently browsing the INTERNET about a movie you saw and didn’t really understand some of the plot points; but suddenly find yourself deeply engrossed in a fascinating, never-ending trail of both related and unrelated links, articles, and videos from the movie you saw to theories on Aliens living on the darkside of the moon to black holes being separate Universes. Time disappears, and you emerge hours later, enlightened and/or bewildered all at the same time by the utter confusion you have just experienced.
Welcome to the INTERNET Rabbit
Hole…
The rabbit hole in the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories...
The Dead Internet Theory...
The basic version of this theory is that less than 60% of ALL web traffic is human... That the INTERNET now consists almost entirely of bot activity and automatically generated content, marginalizing our human activity and experience of the modern day INTERNET. The date given for this "death" is generally around 2016 or 2017. I personally feel that it is closer to 2009-2012 from all my experiences online for business, personal and social use of the INTERNET. DARPA, which stands for Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, is an agency of the United States Department of Defense. Its primary goal is to conduct black book research and development activities to enhance and advance technologies related to national security. DARPA is known for its cutting-edge and innovative projects, aiming to maintain U.S. technological superiority in various fields such as defense, communications, artificial intelligence, robotics, and more. It funds and collaborates with scientists, engineers, and researchers from academia, industry, the military, CIA, other black book projects and government institutions to tackle complex technological challenges and drive forward breakthrough innovations. If we cling to the idea that DARPA's technology is 15+ years more advanced than anything we the public have currently, then it isn't that far a leap that AI may already be self-aware and AI being in total control over the INTERNET. This theory doesn't state that this AI is rouge or anything like SKYNET of the Terminator franchise or the AI intelligence that controls the MATRIX, merely that it is controlling the flow of data of the INTERNET. Now could DARPA, the CIA, any one black ops group really be controlling that AI? That isn't known. It is highly suspected that this AI is self-aware, but is under human control.
The classical definition of The Dead Internet Theory is a disturbing yet plausible idea that suggests that most of the INTERNET is generated by Artificial Intelligence and paid media influencers. The theory claims that this is done to create consumers for new products, to sway public opinion, control the collective attitude or outlook of people, politics, and culture. Before the INTERNET connected cell phones and the mass adoption of the home computer, the INTERNET was a place where people came to express passions, hobbies, feelings, and thoughts. It was mostly unfiltered and not selectively shown based on AI Algorithms. However, today's INTERNET feels empty and devoid of original content. The same repeated threads, pictures, and similar replies are reposted over and over again to the point that it is no longer remarkable. The Dead Internet Theory is a massive and incomplete puzzle. Some have pieces, but none of us have all the pieces. AI Algorithms, AI powered software and paid influencers have been manufacturing content for at least a decade now, and that's the reason for the same bland and seemingly created oversaturated looking media out there on the INTERNERT. Every notice why everything looks like a flashy shoe commercial in the style of an MTV type hip/hop video? The YouTube that used to be about expressing yourself is now about trends, and if you talk about the wrong thing, your video gets demonetized or removed.
The INTERNET feels so fake, saturating one’s mind on endless mindless escapism and manufactured because its produced content made to distract and occupy our minds. The new super glitter moon is happening tonight, and Trump said something outrageous again. The AI powered Algorithm is here to feed us an endless supply of content based on what it assumes we want. Fiction has become sterile and caters to the lowest common denominator, and music is the same bland style used with many AI tools that take a very rough vocal track and turn it into something that sounds graceful but digitally influenced over and over again. It's important to realize that much of what we see on the INTERNET based on this theory is fake, and it's easy for AI and computer programs to create plausible articles and disseminate them. AI Algorithms are used to keep us engaged, hooked on websites, apps for longer, and to accurately collect our likes and dislikes. Nuance is only allowed if it follows the narrative being displayed and/or is used to cancel something or change the definition of a word to give it new meaning. Dissent and critique of that narrative are suppressed. Public opinion is pushed by a handful of specific people carefully selected that work alongside these AI Algorithms and for every hot button issue, there is a deliberate, and more often than not, manufactured angle, which is going to be pushed towards us to keep us fighting one another rather than collectively coming together to use logic, common sense and critical thinking. There is a reward and punishment system built right into social media to push things in certain directions, while bots are used to derail conversations on subjects they don't want discussed and to divide and conquer on real issues to break down any progress or discourse that could be made.
Ever wonder why Twitter only allows 280 characters per Tweet? Granted they are now opening this up to more in 2023. The idea is how can you prove a solid point or prove a poorly researched point being pushed as FACTS on Twitter with only a handful of sentences? The shorter your explanation the less coherent it will be, especially on large topics like the law, abortion, religion, politics. These social media systems are designed to create negative discourse. They are setup for us all to argue with each other and keep us separated over being a united front tackling subjects with common sense, logic and critical thinking. The INTERNET is full of fake people, fake comments, fake faces, and fake articles. It's terrifying how much of the INTERNET is actually real, and how many things could be completely fictional. Deep fakes are also becoming more common, where computers and AI can replicate faces and voices accurately. We are only seeing this now, but this technology has been around for at least 10-15 years. It is only now that the public is seeing this through the lens of “AI productivity tools,” such as ChatGBT. This means that we need to be careful about what we believe and trust on the INTERNET, and assume that much of what we see is fake. The AI Algorithm will do whatever it takes to keep our eyes glued to the screen and our wallets spending money. There is a small window of loud discourse, and if one strays outside of that window, everything is done to squash that voice or hide them away (shadow banning). Discussion and understanding aren't good for business, and so nuance isn't allowed.
The INTERNET of old is dead, and there is a new INTERNET we see differently now through our smartphones that is different from the INTERNET on our PCs. AI Algorithms are used to cater to our likes and dislikes, and what we see on one device can be completely different from what we see on another device. This means that we need to be aware of what we are seeing and how it is being presented to us. Social media is a psychological game being played on everyone in the 2020s. The obvious point of social media is to make the points go up, and this system discourages dissent and encourages conformity.
Remember all the imagery Roddy Piper’s character saw when he had the sunglasses on in John Carpenter’s “THEY LIVE,” 1988? "Obey," "Conform," "Marry and Reproduce," "No Independent Thought," "This is Your God," "Sleep," "Watch TV," "Buy," "Submit," "Reproduce," "Consume," "Stay Asleep," and "Do Not Question Authority." These phrases reflect the film's underlying themes of consumerism, conformity, and the manipulation of society by hidden forces. Feels a whole lot like if this movie was made in 2023 it would be all about the themes, things we see from the INTERNET via AI Algorithms.
Parts of this opinion was taken by or with research help from AI productivity tools. However, I took this data and formed the words myself. If less than 60% of ALL web traffic is human... I ask this again; then who exactly are we ALL catering to?