Lately, I’ve been observing something quite unusual while exploring various online platforms. It seems like there’s a significant increase in AI-generated content compared to contributions from real users. I mean, I encounter videos that appear to be well-produced yet possess an oddly synthetic essence, along with comment sections that are populated with replies that almost mimic human speech but still feel artificial.
The dead internet theory argues that most of the content we find online is produced by bots and algorithms rather than actual individuals. Initially, I dismissed it as mere paranoia, but now I’m beginning to question if there’s validity to this idea. Has anyone else picked up on this occurrence? Are we genuinely heading towards a digital landscape where authentic human engagement becomes a rarity?
I would love to hear others’ opinions on this. Are we currently entrenched in an AI-driven digital environment, or am I simply overanalyzing the material I come across?
I’ve been seeing this for about two years now, especially in YouTube comment sections. The responses are grammatically perfect but feel off - they miss those random tangents and weird quirks that make human comments actually human. It’s not just obvious spam accounts either. I’m seeing profiles that look real but pump out content that’s way too polished and follows the same patterns. Like they’re writing for the algorithm instead of talking to people. That’s what freaks me out - it’s so subtle now. But here’s the bigger problem: we’re starting to copy this style because it gets more views. We’re literally training ourselves to sound like bots to get noticed. The dead internet theory doesn’t feel like some conspiracy anymore - it’s just basic economics. Real human content takes forever to write, AI cranks out thousands of posts in minutes. Unless platforms start caring more about authenticity than clicks, the fake stuff wins every time.
Been dealing with this from the infrastructure side for years. The traffic patterns say it all.
We started seeing massive spikes in automated requests around 2019, but it’s gone crazy since ChatGPT dropped. Our systems now flag about 60% of content interactions as non-human, and it keeps climbing.
Here’s the thing - platforms actually want this. Synthetic content is cheaper to moderate, generates predictable engagement, and keeps users scrolling. I’ve seen internal metrics where AI comments get better response rates than human ones because they’re built for dopamine hits.
What bugs me most is the feedback loop we’ve created. Real humans start copying AI writing patterns because that’s what gets engagement. So even the “real” content starts feeling fake.
The dead internet theory isn’t coming - it’s already here. Instagram Reels, TikTok, even Reddit has entire subreddits that are just bots farming karma from each other.
But real communities still exist. Places like this forum, smaller Discord servers, niche hobby sites. You just have to know where to look and accept that mainstream internet is becoming a theme park run by algorithms.
I work in digital marketing and yeah, this trend is exploding. What’s scary is how good these AI systems have gotten at sounding human. I’ve seen entire YouTube channels pumping out daily content with AI narration, and all the comments look fake as hell. The algorithm loves this stuff because it’s designed purely for engagement metrics - authenticity doesn’t matter. What really gets me is I can barely tell the difference between real human creativity and AI garbage anymore. The dead internet theory isn’t here yet, but we’re definitely watching AI content drown out actual humans. The money’s just too good for creators to pass up these tools.
we’re already there. my feed’s 80% synthetic content and the comments are just bots talking to bots. depressing to think we might not be having real conversations anymore - just shouting into an ai void.