Emily Cheyne
Words by Emily Cheyne
Artificial intelligence has been a growing topic of discussion with the power it has to produce new content at a very fast rate. It seems to be pretty harmless on the surface. We have heard Drake singing Ice Spice songs and seen photos of shrimp Jesus. And now social media is rife with photos of events that never happened. But at what point does it become a serious cause for concern? This is where the dead internet theory comes in.
According to an article published by Jake Renzella of UNSW Sydney, “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 goal of this is for agents to boost engagement (likes and comments) on platforms like Instagram, Facebook and TikTok. The artificial engagement seems to have no end and will essentially filter out human-generated content altogether, said Renzella.
The main concern of these artificial agents is misinformation. “Accounts with high numbers of followers were legitimizing misinformation and disinformation, leading real users to believe, engage and reshare bot-posted content,” Renzella wrote.
If you have been on Facebook lately you have probably seen the endless amounts of AI generated photos that are just weird. They will either have many typos or the photos are obviously fake. Under these photos are generic comments made by generic looking profiles. These are the AI bots interacting with AI generated content. While looking at the comments though, you can also see some real people, typically those of the older generations, being fooled by the fake content. While this has become a joke on social media, it proves that the misinformation is dangerous for those who do not understand it. 
This boosted engagement means more revenue for companies which seems to be a main reason for corporate interest in AI-generated content. The more likes a company gets on their posts, the more their product or service is seen and the more sales they can make. AI allows these companies to get content out quickly and cheaply.
One trend that has recently been popular on TikTok is that creators have taken to different AI platforms to change the endings of old Vine videos. In this “time traveling” trend, people are changing iconic Vines so that they never happened or happened differently. For example, someone changed the famed “Charlie bit my finger” video where the two little boys run away to some Kylo Ren-looking character, who is supposed to be a time traveler. It’s actually kind of creepy.
The trend seems harmless right now because it is obviously fake, but as technology improves, will we be able to tell the difference between real videos and this AI-generated content? Only time can answer this question.
The term “dead internet” doesn’t necessarily mean the internet is no longer for human use. It more so means that the internet we know is dead. What was created by humans as a way to interact with others, a source of entertainment and a way to learn is now different and will never be the same. AI might make the internet we know more bland and repetitive. It’s also a reminder to be skeptical of what you see online because it is becoming harder to differentiate what’s real and what’s fake.
As artificial intelligence continues to develop, some worry that it will one day surpass human intelligence. This is referred to as “singularity.” According to author and futurist Bernard Marr, the concept became popular by science fiction author Vernor Vinge in the ’90s. Singularity, he wrote, “will mark the first point in human history that we will share the planet with entities that are smarter than us.”
While this may seem like an extreme idea, one of the main characteristics that still separate humans and artificial intelligence is our ability to feel. AI currently does not show any real emotional intelligence. It does not have the capacity to feel empathy or passion as humans do, but AI is growing rapidly. It is becoming more creative, and the singularity concept argues that this fast growth will get to a point where AI no longer needs humans to function. It is unlikely that if this event were to occur, it would happen anytime soon, but if it is not something that can be prevented, people can at least be prepared.
The purpose of AI is to be a tool to aid in problem solving and make the lives of people more efficient. Though with any technology, it might not always go the way it was intended to. Its future is uncertain. Whether we like it or not, AI is going to continue to expand and become more of our everyday lives. It will be important to stay informed and realize when it becomes more than just a silly internet trend.
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