This AI Theory Is Sweeping the Internet. Here’s What You Need to Know

Might artificial intelligence take over the web? Some members of the web neighborhood reckon it already has. This outdated idea is flooding digital areas once more, and all of it has to do with Shrimp Jesus.

If you do not know what I am speaking about, that is the notorious AI-generated Facebook image that, together with variations, has been floating across the internet because the picture first surfaced in March of 2024. At first look, Shrimp Jesus gave the impression to be your commonplace, human-made meme. But it surely was truly the jumping-off level for Fb AI artwork slop — a proliferation of AI-generated memes just like the Challah Horse, the 386-year-old granny baking her personal birthday cake, and the random wooden cars (to call only a few).

The flood of those footage has reignited discussions a few conspiracy idea that cropped up in 2021, referred to as the Lifeless Web Idea. In the event you often use TikTok, Instagram or Fb, you could’ve already seen examples of those sorts of photos, with out realizing it. I write in regards to the web for a dwelling, and I solely not too long ago heard in regards to the idea. Researching it led me down a rabbit gap I struggled to emerge from. So, what’s the Lifeless Web Idea? And the way does it parallel the rise of synthetic intelligence? 

The origins of the Lifeless Web Idea

The Lifeless Web Idea first emerged in 2021 on the web boards, 4chan and Wizardchan. Folks took to those boards claiming that the web died in 2016 and that AI bots principally run the content material we now see on-line. This idea additionally helps the likelihood that AI is getting used to control the general public as a consequence of a a lot bigger and sinister agenda. These posts have been pieced collectively in a prolonged thread and printed on one other on-line discussion board referred to as Agora Street’s Macintosh Cafe. Remember, the thread could be simply accessed on-line, however I didn’t hyperlink to it because of the obscene language within the submit. 

Person IlluminatiPirate wrote, “The web feels empty and devoid of individuals. Additionally it is devoid of content material.”

Now, years later, this conspiracy is seeing the sunshine of day once more with an increase of TikTok creators dissecting the idea and discovering examples to help it. One creator, with a username of SideMoneyTom, posted a video in March 2024, exhibiting examples of various Fb accounts posting variations of AI-generated photos of Jesus. These photos present little visitors on-line, but they will nonetheless simply proliferate your feed. Like many different on-line creators, SideMoneyTom echoed the identical sentiment: These Fb accounts are run by AI bots and create all content material. To higher perceive this idea, it helps to know how generative AI works. 

Generative AI makes use of artificial intelligence programs that produce new content material within the type of tales, photos, movies, music and even software program code. According to Monetate, “Generative AI makes use of machine-learning algorithms and coaching information to generate new, plausibly human-passing content material.” With the launch of ChatGPT in 2022, chatbots have change into all the trend as of late, with tech giants like Google, Apple and MetaAI making a slew of AI instruments for his or her merchandise. (Disclosure: Ziff Davis, CNET’s father or mother firm, in April filed a lawsuit towards OpenAI, the proprietor of ChatGPT, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in coaching and working its AI programs.)

Now, again to Shrimp Jesus. In the event you feed particular information and prompts to a chatbot, you may discover that these photos are “human-passing.” Emphasis on “passing.” Content created by chatbots is certainly known to have its faults. 

“Whereas massive pre-trained programs equivalent to LLMs [large language models] have made spectacular developments of their reasoning capabilities, extra analysis is required to ensure correctness and depth of the reasoning carried out by them,” AI consultants wrote in a report by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence. 

Nevertheless, Shrimp Jesus and different AI-generated photos aren’t the one issues on-line believers use to substantiate this idea. 

Are these bots or actual individuals?

In the event you spend sufficient time on social media, you may see odd issues within the feedback part of sure posts, like repetitive feedback from accounts which can be irrelevant to the submit. These feedback are sometimes unusual and do not make sense. Final winter, Bluesky subscribers took to Reddit to complain about being tormented by reply bots that have been politely and annoyingly argumentative.

One user flagged the widespread indicators to identify these reply bots and what to do when encountering them. Some indications you are experiencing a bot are when the account is new and has many replies to completely different posts, as seen from this Bluesky reply bot account.

spot an AI bot:

• An account with a brief bio, a bio that’s too particular, or is lacking one. 
• An account with no pictures or solely AI-generated pictures. 
• The account is comparatively new.
• An account with few or no followers. 
• An account with an odd followers-to-likes ratio. (If they’ve 10K followers however their posts obtain 50 to 100 likes.) 
• An account that posts scammy feedback.

Based on cybersecurity firm Imperva’s 2024 Bad Bot report, almost half of all web visitors got here from bots in 2023, a 2% improve from the earlier 12 months. Imperva characterizes Bad Bots as automated software program applications that carry out malicious actions on web sites. These bots can take delicate data, carry out account takeovers and provoke cyberattacks or DDoS. That report additionally highlights that the speedy adoption of generative AI and different LLMs has elevated the variety of easy dangerous bots as a result of “much less technical people can now write primary bot scripts.”

The report notes that the US noticed an increase in bad-bot assaults in 2023, accounting for 47% of all bot exercise globally. Based on Imperva, the US is probably the most focused nation for bad-bot visitors worldwide. (Unhealthy-bot assaults aren’t restricted to the web and on-line communication. They are often discovered affecting a number of industries. As an example, an increase in bad-bot visitors could be seen within the gaming business; amongst telecommunications and internet service providers; within the computing and IT sector; and in journey.)

Generative AI development has accelerated in recent times, however so have the fears and considerations surrounding these modifications, together with their impact on the environment. According to recent data from the Pew Research Center, AI consultants have been extra probably than Individuals to imagine that AI will positively impression the US within the subsequent 20 years. Knowledge exhibits that over 47% of consultants are enthusiastic about utilizing AI day by day, versus 11% of the general public. That very same report additionally highlights that over 51% of US adults have been involved in regards to the development of AI since 2021.

Remodeling, not dying

Concerning the rising considerations over whether or not the web is useless, Sofie Hvitved, expertise futurist and senior advisor on the Copenhagen Institute of Future Research, believes that the web is just not useless, however evolving. 

“I believe the web, because it seems to be like now, will die, nevertheless it has been dying for a very long time, in that sense,” Hvitved stated. 

“It is remodeling into one thing else and decomposing itself into a brand new factor, so now we have to determine the right way to make new options and higher algorithms… making it higher and extra related to us as people.” 

In 2024, a NewsGuard audit report revealed that generative AI instruments have been used to unfold Russian propaganda in over 3.6 million articles. NewsGuard additionally discovered that AI chatbots have been used to create false narratives on-line from a Russian misinformation information website. To that time, Hvitved emphasised that these points stemming from AI don’t signify that the web is useless however as an alternative pressure us to handle how we will enhance these AI instruments. 

“Since there are massive language fashions, and , AI feeds on all the knowledge it could possibly collect, it could possibly begin polluting the LLMs and pollute the information, which is a large downside,” stated Hvitved. 

What does the web neighborhood suppose?

The Lifeless Web Idea is not dying anytime quickly. On-line discourse surrounding the thought is not restricted to TikTok. It is also discovered a house in multiple Reddit threads.

One Reddit consumer wrote, “AI chatbots are going to be catastrophic for therefore many individuals’s psychological well being.” However analysis to again this up has been combined. Some factors to how AI chatbots can successfully reduce the severity of mental health concerns for individuals from completely different demographics and backgrounds. Different research present that AI chatbots could be detrimental to young children and their development.

One other Reddit consumer posted, “Contemplating that we’re simply initially of AI, particularly its capabilities with video, I would say there’s an actual probability that it’s going to destroy the usefulness of the web and make it useless.” 

Different individuals echo that sentiment by including that the ratio of AI content material to human content material will change dramatically over the subsequent few years. One even compiled a list of over 130 examples of subreddit threads on the web that consisted of feedback and posts generated by AI bots. 

Might AI form a brand new digital web tradition?

According to the Harvard Business Review, generative AI might primarily threaten content material created by impartial writers, artists, musicians and podcasters. That stated, one looming query following the Lifeless Web Idea is whether or not AI will utterly change human-made content material. If that’s the case, how will this form web tradition? 

Hvitved can be the Head of Media on the Copenhagen Institute for Future Research and focuses on inspecting the connection between rising applied sciences like AI and their impression on communication. She has a tackle the way forward for a brand new web tradition as AI use will increase. 

“Perhaps the static aspect of the web goes to die. So now we have articles, static pages and internet pages you need to scroll by, however is that the dying of the web? I do not suppose so.” 

She believes this new web tradition might imply extra related content material for broadband customers. 

“That type of contextual web, data graphs, real-time summaries and interactive microformats, that is one thing these [AI] brokers can exit and choose from to create one thing specialised for you.” 

This new web tradition will emphasize AI’s potential to tailor distinctive content material for every consumer and should imply abandoning the idea of shared areas and communities. 

“We have now to concentrate to echo chambers or diving into your individual little worlds that solely you’ll perceive. We can’t have any shared actuality anymore,” Hvitved stated. 

So, is the web actually useless?

In the event you’ve watched movies like The Terminator, Blade Runner or Wall-E, there’s at all times been a fascination with robots and whether or not they’ll take over the world sooner or later. The resurgence of the Lifeless Web Idea is simply the newest proof of that ongoing discourse. One might argue that AI shaping a brand new web tradition would imply the dying of the web as we all know it. However this does not indicate that the web will simply disappear. To echo what AI knowledgeable Sofie Hvitved conveyed, the web could finally evolve into one thing new. With the speedy development of AI in our day-to-day lives, there isn’t any query that is remodeling the digital panorama. However is the web useless? As a broadband author working with quite a few hard-working CNET writers day by day, I can testify that it is alive.

The Lifeless Web Idea FAQs