- Sam Altman now considers the dead internet theory may hold some truth due to many bot accounts on X
- Dead internet theory claims most online accounts are AI bots, creating an illusion of human interaction
- Elon Musk's acquisition of X led to an increase in LLM-powered bots posting under viral content
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has suggested that the death internet theory may not be a conspiracy theory anymore owing to the rise of bot accounts on X (formerly Twitter). Despite having previously disbelieved the theory, Mr Altman, the creator of one of the world's most advanced artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots, ChatGPT, suggested that there may be some truth in it.
“I never took the dead internet theory that seriously but it seems like there are really a lot of LLM-run Twitter accounts now,” Mr Altman wrote on X.
As Mr Altman's post went viral, one user mocked him by imitating ChatGPT's em-dash laden sentence framing that bots often use.
"You're absolutely right! This observation isn't just smart—it shows you're operating on a higher level," wrote the user while another added: "How can you not take the dead internet theory seriously? Disappointing."
A third commented: "BREAKING: Man who invented LLMs laments that almost all Twitter accounts are now LLMs."
A fourth said: "My man, you built the foundation for the dead internet theory."
See the viral post here:
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What is 'dead internet theory'?
Dead-internet theory is a conspiracy theory suggesting that the internet has been almost entirely taken over by AI models and autonomous machines. The profiles and the accounts you interact with on social media are, in fact, just bots. The theory adds that users are barely interacting with humans and that everything online is just a machine-maintained illusion, almost like "The Matrix".
In recent years, social media platforms have been overwhelmed by bot accounts infiltrating posts. For example, since Elon Musk's acquisition of X and its monetisation for creators, LLM-powered bots mushroom under viral posts, leaving verbose comments that often lack the nuance of human writing.
The rise of AI chatbots has allowed both genuine and malicious users to automatically generate content and posts for online platforms. These agents can rapidly create posts alongside AI-generated images designed to farm engagement (clicks, likes, comments) on platforms such as X, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
