10 cards
Dead internet theory (n.) is the belief that most online activity and content is now produced by bots and AI rather than by people.
Dead internet theory (n.) is a conspiracy theory that keeps getting promoted to news.
In September 2025, OpenAI's Sam Altman posted that he never took the theory seriously, "but it seems like there are really a lot of LLM-run twitter accounts now."
Dead internet theory (n.) is a crowd typing "Amen" under a picture of Jesus made of shrimp.
Imperva's 2024 report found 49.6% of all internet traffic in 2023 came from bots.
The theory's original version dates the internet's "death" to around 2016, years before ChatGPT existed.
Dead internet theory (n.) is a theory every bot online will tell you is nonsense.
Dead internet theory (n.) is wondering whether the reply guy is a guy.
Dead internet theory (n.) is a ghost town that keeps posting.
Dead internet theory (n.) is shouting into the void and having the void reply "Great point!"