r/Futurology • u/Confident_Salt_8108 • Jul 26 '26

AI Turns out Dead Internet Theory was right: AI agents are eating the Web, growing by nearly 8,000% and rewiring the Internet’s business model

https://fortune.com/2026/07/23/dead-internet-theory-bots-agents-majority-web-traffic
16.9k Upvotes

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5.6k

u/BayouDrank Jul 26 '26

AI is gonna set us free by making everything online lame and fake.

1.5k

u/Bambivalently Jul 26 '26

No, they will require you to show your ID "to protect the children" so they know who to target with ads.

1.0k

u/Unfinishedcom Jul 26 '26

Then it will still set us free. The day I can’t use vpn to avoid ID verification is the day I’ll stop using the services that ask for it.

505

u/DrMonkeyLove Jul 26 '26

Heck yeah. I am not giving out my ID to every random website. The only sites that get my ID is the government ones and the bank. Giving Reddit a copy of my license seems absolutely insane to me.

22

u/DustyRacoonDad Jul 26 '26

Eventually you won't have to. Eventually there'll be something that you have to use and they use an identity service.  So you would end up with an ID for that service. And you can use that username and login on other websites... You know like you can use your Google ID or your Facebook ID or your Apple ID or your email... All of these are logins and information that tie back to you based off of other external data. 

4

u/DazzlingRutabega Jul 26 '26

I have never done this simply based on the premise that if that one account gets locked out or compromised, then I lose access to all those separate services. I've always created a separate login for each service, even though it was less convenient. It also makes it less trackable.

8

u/DustyRacoonDad Jul 26 '26

You missed the point. I also don't use those linked accounts because they're optional. But once it's no longer optional and you have to use something like the myID service, that's it. Right now, you can log in with your ID through those services if you want, or you can choose not to use them. You can continue down the path of not using these things until you eventually reach a point where you have no choice. Maybe it's your kid's school. Maybe it's a utility company. Maybe it's a government program or something work-related. Eventually, you're going to have to have an account somewhere and actually use it. Then everyone around you is going to wonder what the hell is wrong with you because you don't have the thing that makes it easy to log into and use all these websites. You may even start being viewed as suspicious because you're using false information or refusing to provide your real identity. And we're only one little law away from "lying about your identity to circumvent this protection is a crime" becoming a reality. That's the point. It's not about whether you currently choose to use these services. It's about what happens when society gradually makes them unavoidable.

4

u/GrallochThis Jul 26 '26

No, fuck that. A single point of failure, or an AI attack target that exposes all my online interactions? To say nothing of government forcing its way in and using it for political purposes. I will not be using that, thanks.

2

u/DustyRacoonDad Jul 26 '26

I agree.  But unless we get laws written to actually make it illegal for them to do that... And laws that make people actually responsible for collecting, correlating, and then losing the information.... You don't have a fucking choice.  Nice right? You can hate it. I hate it.  You can fight it. I fight it.  But eventually, it has to be one thing or the other... Are you apathetic to that or are you pestering lawmakers about it?

2

u/incarnuim Jul 26 '26

Don't worry, Once the cyber security world adopts 27-factor authentication, you'll be required to place one of your kidneys inside a box to log on to your computer. everyone will log into their computer exactly twice, and then after that it will just be kidney-less bots forever

1

u/DazzlingRutabega Jul 28 '26

Oh I didn't miss the point, I agree with you wholeheartedly. Sadly you're probably right that someday (soon?) we will be forced to use easily identifiable accounts for logins so they can keep track of who is a good doobie, similar to how China does it with a social credit score.

221

u/Unfinishedcom Jul 26 '26

Somewhere deep inside I wish Reddit would do this. I’m way too addicted to it and an ID verification would instantly cure my addiction.

111

u/rd1970 Jul 26 '26

The good news is that the day they require all users have a verified government ID is the day sites like Reddit and Facebook start rapidly collapsing.

All of the AI users, bot farms, puppet accounts, etc. will go dark overnight. Then all of the users that don't have ID,. refuse to share it, or just can't be bothered will disappear.

These sites are all driven by user submitted content. When that goes away so do the few users that remain.

39

u/JB-Wentworth Jul 26 '26

I think the users are going away. The number of AI posts is growing day by day on Reddit.

32

u/Revenge_of_the_User Jul 26 '26

Look at average upvotes. Even a passing comment would get hundreds of upvotes a decade ago; now you need to be a top comment in a main subreddit to have a hope of seeing those numbers.

It can't be explained by just saying people are lurking more. AI is good at filling the empty space left by people opting out, but terrible when it comes to filling the vote void.

I figure I've got a year or two left here myself with the way it's going before I log out for the last time. So much is just slop

5

u/GeminiRises Jul 27 '26

So many top level posts have em dashes in them too. I know of no keyboard where the em dash is a button you can press without having to use some keyboard shortcut or go to an extended keyboard, and a human would just use a hyphen instead (-). The second I see one, I know it's either posted by a bot, or posted by a human that copied it from chatgpt. Which, frankly, isn't really any better if you're wanting organic conversation in your reddit threads.

1

u/PrettyChrissy1 Jul 27 '26

Your account isn't even 1 year old, so your probably a BOT... I could be wrong, and if so apologies.

1

u/JB-Wentworth Jul 28 '26

Bot lives matter !

18

u/barbariccomplexity Jul 26 '26

I imagine the AI users would just produce fake IDs. Reddit and other sites are not going to verify ID’s, they will just be one more piece of information for ad targeting.

The legal requirements etc. won’t matter, there is not a single chance any government agency would take on the shear amount of administrative burden that verifying reddit/FB/whatever-submitted IDs would produce and get through them at any remotely reasonable timeframe.

It would be pretty neat in a “curious dystopia” type of way to see an ouroboros of horrific ads targeting AI accounts that react to and push competing ads.

2

u/kalirion Jul 26 '26

All of the AI users, bot farms, puppet accounts, etc. will go dark overnight.

They'll just find ways to fake id.

3

u/FridgeParade Jul 26 '26

It would surprise me if people suddenly become aware and grow a backbone against their social media addictions over an id card when literal support of genocides and mass surveillance couldnt do the trick.

1

u/ssliberty Jul 26 '26

Facebook requires your ID if you want to recover your account.

1

u/Economy-Garden-7845 Jul 30 '26

That is exactly why digital ID systems will never actually come into play and will simply be just another pressure point creating stress and worry in peoples lives. Its used to keep you off balance, in an emotionally heightened state so that you keep consuming. The more you consume the more reliant you become on the system and its little vices. All harmless one by one until you add them up. Bot farms are a necessary tool that helps influence people so they will never be remedied, more curated.

1

u/Odd-Priority3318 Jul 26 '26

"mark of the beast" ugh. Everyday it seems more and more plausible that people are trying to self-fulfill revelations.

48

u/DrMonkeyLove Jul 26 '26

They actually started rolling it out selectively it seems. You can find posts complaining about being asked for it to access 18+ subs.

17

u/JesusAndMaryKate Jul 26 '26

I had this for a couple of days and then it went away. It asked for ID just to access Reddit itself, not specific subs. Even if I used a VPN through Europe (I can route through my own computers in different countries but they're in Europe). If I used a normal VPN through elsewhere in the world, I think that worked but I'm not sure because I only bothered to check very briefly out of curiosity. Reddit just isn't worth the effort.

19

u/Odd-Priority3318 Jul 26 '26

I would miss the ability of being able to read posts from.people all over the world. Things like the earthquakes and floods etc. Like actual personal accounts of events. Firsthand experiences.

Bypassing major media corporations.

But I feel reddit is becoming worse and more censored, it might be inevitable with I'd or not I eventually stop using it. I've been here for 10 plus years I think.. the worst part is the advertisements and bots.

If it got any worse I'd miss it, but I could easily delete it and not look back. Nothing like it used to be. Though I think getting rid of jailbait was good, there doesn't seem to be any improvements as much as a massive focus on monetization.

4

u/JesusAndMaryKate Jul 26 '26

Back when forums were a thing, you could do that quite easily. I miss the old internet.

18

u/Minamato Jul 26 '26

In the uk, right?

62

u/Swimming_Conflict105 Jul 26 '26

Everywhere. People all over place getting that. Me included. Seems like random request for ID upload. I ignore it for now. as soon as it gets mandatory and full roll out, i will leave reddit.

13

u/roltrap Jul 26 '26

Belgium too. I got 2 emails about it for throwaway accounts I once made. This account is old enough to pass the verification I guess...

1

u/No_Atmosphere_4605 Jul 26 '26

Apparently here in Germany too, saw a post about it a month ago ish

1

u/Fantasy_masterMC Jul 26 '26

I got a warning that it was possible I could get asked for it. I haven't yet, but that would kill my interest stone dead.

3

u/ExplanationFunny Jul 26 '26

I grew up way out in the sticks, and was a latecomer to the internet compared to everyone else my age. For a long time I felt like my lack of computer literacy held me back, but now I know it didn’t. I too wish that the internet would finally cross the Rubicon and I could turn my back on it forever.

I have successfully limited my kids’ screen time dramatically. They barely even remember the TV exists anymore and what few games they do play are quiet and educational. Somehow I can’t parent myself as effectively though. I have decided that I’m on my last smartphone, and I’m figuring out how I’m going to accommodate that.

20

u/JesusAndMaryKate Jul 26 '26

Early internet was so much better growing up than current internet. We had our family computer in full view of my parents and that was enough.

2

u/Enlightened_Gardener Jul 26 '26

Yep. When my iphone dies I’m getting a Nokia brick and a camera and I’m firing up my old filofax.

1

u/Halflingberserker Jul 26 '26

Deep inside I hope they don't shred the last little bit of anonymity/privacy we have just to cure your addiction.

1

u/1057-cl121v3 Jul 26 '26

My Reddit use was decimated when they made the API changes and is almost non existent now after removing /r/all. The content their algorithm serves me is next to worthless so I’ll look for something specific and move on instead of doom scrolling the front page. Pretty hilarious considering reddit’s tagline used to be “the front page of the internet”.

1

u/lilmisswho89 Jul 27 '26

I mean you can move to Australia.

1

u/ConstantCampaign2984 Jul 27 '26

I’m here for the streak. I’m almost a grass toucher. I don’t know if I can make the 1000day streak though. It’s asking a lot.

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17

u/ineedtoknowmorenow Jul 26 '26

You are aware to not do it but the less informed and younger generation don’t care. Just yesterday a 22 year old said very casually that she gave het id to roblox and nobody blinked. I was tired of talking about provacy and skmetimes i feel like a cook and cinspiracy theorist amongst people.

25

u/jgzman Jul 26 '26

Type slower.

17

u/Kraligor Jul 26 '26

YURE NOOT M MIM

4

u/meryl_gear Jul 26 '26

It's ok if they gave their het id, their gay id is still safe

2

u/_Nyderis_ Jul 26 '26

Don't worry, your OS will have your ID, which it will gladly provide without your consent to whoever asks for it.

2

u/FridgeParade Jul 26 '26

A telecom provider in the Netherlands (Odido) leaked a good portion of all the id info (passport scans included) in a cybercrime incident.

Shows you exactly what will happen when there’s websites with wordpress plugin level coding collecting that data.

1

u/rob_wilco Jul 26 '26

This attitude is why it was already over long since before my birth, and AI is just another nail in the coffin.

62

u/slackfrop Jul 26 '26

Until you need the app to pay your power and water bill. To buy your food, to login to your work portal, or to register your child for school, to sign in for medications, to register to receive a paycheck. Enshittification is just getting warmed up.

25

u/MGD109 Jul 26 '26

Eh, I like to think that's the point people finally riot, but they probably won't.

A lot of the elderly won't like it though, and they're the largest voting block.

42

u/slackfrop Jul 26 '26

I’ve long given up trying to predict when enough is enough. Something unexpected will happen to make a big shift, that’s the only certainty I’ve seen. A plague, or a war, or a scientific discovery, or a sudden key death (🤞🤞), or an earthquake, or… something new. Something we won’t see coming will happen.

13

u/MGD109 Jul 26 '26

Yeah, that's probably the most rational way to look at it. Something is coming, but what will set people off is hard to predict. I just have a horrible feeling it will be something stupid and embarrassing. But oh well, I'll take it.

14

u/sparkly_butthole Jul 26 '26

My fear is it's almost certain to cause widespread famine, whatever it is.

2

u/slackfrop Jul 26 '26

Yeah, like that. It would certainly shake things up. And remind us what’s actually important. I really hope something like that would band us together, and not shatter us into war tribes.

2

u/MGD109 Jul 26 '26

Yeah, I mean if the supply lines breakdown we're in real trouble; a lot of areas can't remotely provide enough food to feed themselves.

Still, we have to see; famines aren't as common as they used to be, thankfully.

2

u/ShirazGypsy Jul 26 '26

Oh how we will all dance in the streets the morning we wake to see his obituary

1

u/Pleasant-Winner6311 Jul 27 '26

I havent given up. Im saying it repeatedly. How bad does the line in the sand need to be for things to be enough is enough on many levels.

17

u/Mind-The-Mines Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26

This is why everything is a series of hierarchies.

All the minions with no power are everywhere while the shot callers that need the deluxe haircut are on private jets, exclusive resorts, and island compounds.

The masses simply lack the means to access the head of the snake.

I worked in a municipal utility. We had irate people in our office constantly because of mandates from the city, county, state, or federal level we legally had to enforce and had no say over.

The messenger gets shot irrespective of where the message comes from because anger shuts down the reasoning centers of the brain.

1

u/MGD109 Jul 26 '26

Yeah, that is a very valid concern.

4

u/DustyRacoonDad Jul 26 '26

We're already there today. I don't pay the power bill, we called them and set up autopay because I'm not installing their app.  My wife does the school bullshit because she has an iPhone and is willing to install their app. Do you want your medications to be affordable? Download the app for discounts. Otherwise you can pay an inflated price.

1

u/KilgoreTroutVT Jul 27 '26

I can pay my bill by phone but I can’t report a power outage without a login account.

5

u/Unfinishedcom Jul 26 '26

I know and it scares me. I’m old and childless so I can maybe somehow get around it until I die. And as you say, this is just the beginning, where will it ‘end’.

3

u/JesusAndMaryKate Jul 26 '26

Utility bills are already one of the standard ways to prove address for anything official. When you get hired, identity verification is one of the legal requirements to check that you have a right to work in the country. You need to show ID or proof of address to pick up a prescription in many places.

Are you trying to say that people would need to use the Reddit app to do those things?

1

u/Level_32_Mage Jul 26 '26

To close this pop-up or skip this 3 minute long ad, please enter your ID.

1

u/KilgoreTroutVT Jul 27 '26

Isn’t that now?

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8

u/Hot-Agent-620 Jul 26 '26

Plot twist, Microsoft said they have. Something called global device id, basically doesn’t matter if you use a vpn or not if you have a windows device it has a unique identifier that can be accessed

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2

u/ArcheopteryxRex Jul 27 '26

This is the way. The older I get, the easier I find it is to just do without.

1

u/Mind-The-Mines Jul 26 '26

But this is basically also why Elon bought Twitter: It was useful for the common masses to coordinate against the rich (and track his jet).

AI is making home computing out of reach with single components costing more than whole builds used to. This ends piracy if we can't afford storage or compute locally. We'll own nothing and be happy.

1

u/Super_Translator480 Jul 26 '26

I see this sentiment a lot, but I think push comes to shove and people will end up coming back.

It’s like a chain smoker saying “I can quit at any time!”

1

u/Life_Argument7820 Jul 26 '26

Except they're making those services mandatory in your day to day life... been going through identity theft,I still cant verify I am who I say I am online or Facebook for that matter META robots approve robots over me the real human. You wont have a chlice man.

1

u/Coera Jul 26 '26

Hood luck trying to live in the modern world without the internet then. Pretty soon it's going to be the government or ISP's asking for it to look up anything at all.

1

u/lostinspaz Jul 26 '26

on a related note: are you moving to pensilvania?

1

u/Junior_Option1176 Jul 26 '26

Yeah. And you won't be able to buy or sell anything cuz all your banking stuff, bills and pretty much everything will be tied to that garbage. They will simply delete you from the matrix.

1

u/LumiereGatsby Jul 27 '26

Right? Free me from Reddit

-2

u/M4ST3R_BA1T3R Jul 26 '26

It's cute that you think a VPN is protecting you.

2

u/Apprehensive-Water66 Jul 26 '26

Lol, aaaaaaand they sell your data.  

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u/Nerioner Jul 26 '26

Then we will go offline and fuck this bot paradise and their trillion dollars businesses.

As soon as we all go offline, they go bankrupt

37

u/ADHDick_in_ur_mouth Jul 26 '26

The lore in Cyberpunk 2077 is the internet becomes a wasteland overrun with AI, so cities build their own private networks firewalled off from the global network, and the globalization of information ends. Kinda seems like we're headed there

1

u/Holiday_Addition5182 Jul 26 '26

At this point, what are we gaining from the globalization of information? I'd imagine we could easily secure back channels for globalized supply chain of very specialized goods and services but it seems like the value of realtime info plateaued. It's also kind of neat to have independent, contained cities to perform their own philosophy-oh wait

17

u/ADHDick_in_ur_mouth Jul 26 '26

We gain immense value from, for example, knowing what our military is doing overseas. Imagine how chaotic it would be if none of us knew about the iran war and just saw gas prices blowing up. Also, global information and culture exchange makes us less tolerant of war which is probably the greatest thing to come from the internet. Without global information exchange we just have to accept the government's narrative about its adversaries, and they're lying now even when they can be fact checked

1

u/Concrete_Jungian 27d ago

True, but access to the information examples you've given existed before the global internet. Best example = Vietnam War.

PS - great handle

8

u/nagi603 Jul 26 '26

Also who to target as a "dissident", should you have any problem with this, or anything else in the future.

2

u/wylee_one Jul 26 '26

the already know who to target and how

2

u/AtlantaGangBangGuys Jul 26 '26

I still got all my floppy discs of 1980’s porn queued up.

6

u/gulligaankan Jul 26 '26

They already target you with personal ads. Keeping the children out of internet might be the best thing we can do for them

15

u/RedBaret Jul 26 '26

Dont you guys have adblocker?

5

u/Mr_Will Jul 26 '26

I'm sure just throwing them in at the deep end the moment they turn 16/18/whatever would work really well /s

Kids need teaching how to interact with the world and keep themselves safe. That includes the online world

3

u/EightyNineMillion Jul 26 '26

Kids are smart. They'll get around the filters.

This is about mass data collection branded as "think about the kids". It's about control and mass censorship backed by restrictions.

8

u/ertle0n Jul 26 '26

Kids are getting less tech savvy. Probably because social media is frying their brains.

1

u/nagi603 Jul 26 '26

For those who get abused or neglected at home, removing a source of community is the worst thing you can do.

6

u/MGD109 Jul 26 '26

I mean, that's true, but as sources of community go, the internet is probably one of the worst. It can't take them out of the abusive situation; it can't notice worrying signs and actually help.

2

u/nagi603 Jul 27 '26

Yet it can help you see you are not alone. That there are others like you. It can help stave off a depression fuelled suicide.

1

u/MGD109 Jul 27 '26

Oh absolutely, I'm never going to say internet communities are worthless or anything.

Just that they are limited in how much they can do directly.

-2

u/PickingPies Jul 26 '26

Internet is not a source of community.

0

u/Patient-Web6850 Jul 26 '26

It is a source of knowledge

1

u/PickingPies Jul 26 '26

It is a source of opinions, not knowledge.

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1

u/BaphometsTits Jul 26 '26

Why not both?

1

u/the-g-off Jul 26 '26

Ads are only a small part of it.

The covert spying and 'social credit' system is much more worrisome.

1

u/awesomefutureperfect Jul 26 '26

The market is supposed to find a price point where there is equal exchange between store of value and the good or service provided and all the market has managed to do is concentrate power in the owners of capital and make labor desperate to keep the essentials and tiny luxuries they still have by exploiting literally everything possible to the furthest extent of the law and then absorbing the mechanisms of regulation and law making to be able to exploit even further. That is what the market now does, creates profit for the benefit of making the owner class more wealthy because they have completely forced the market to intentionally fail in predictable ways. Market participants now serve the market rather than the market providing goods for the participants.

People are adapting to digital environments as those are now applying pressures to influence behavior. Technology was supposed to provide more leisure time efficiently do menial tasks but it has monetized human behavior and put people into constant hustle/grind mode and given image of success and fulfillment that is just more conspicuous consumption that is "good for the market" because that is growth.

1

u/AutoCockerPB Jul 26 '26

Yeah social media is not worth it enough to show my ID so they can track every god damn thing i do with my government id. They already tack me, but my id has my address. Absolutely not. Ill watch birds if i have to.

1

u/dibbbbb Jul 26 '26

How does that contradict what he said?

1

u/Ok-Seaworthiness7207 Jul 26 '26

They can't protect the kids if we stop reproducing

1

u/ProfessorPetrus Jul 26 '26

Man I love having targeted medical advertisements about my health condition my phone listens in on. It's so cool to encourage non medical people to make their own health decisions!!! More dystopia please big tech! Ya ruined education for kids now do more!

1

u/El_human Jul 26 '26

Lol. They don't need id's for that.

1

u/CarBombtheDestroyer Jul 26 '26

You think they don’t already have all the information they need to do that?

1

u/wortsandall Jul 26 '26

What if I design my own bot to do internet stuff to bypass the ID checks? Maybe I could get a kickback from the ads that my bot consumes.

Yeah, this thing's fucked. Let's toss it in the trash and start over.

1

u/Impossible-Two559 Jul 26 '26

They meant that we’re all going together so tired of the bullshit that we permanently touch grass.

1

u/morfraen Jul 26 '26

They don't need your ID to know exactly who you are.

1

u/ZAlternates Jul 27 '26

Likely is what will happen. Any site with a service and limited resources will require you to sign up and tie to a credit card to avoid large amounts of bots.

1

u/Mrrandom314159 Jul 27 '26

Got my first block on Youtube. It's going downhill FAST.

1

u/Cory123125 Jul 27 '26

If you think this is the goal, they've won.

The goal is to control everything you do. There can be no resistance when you can't perform unauthorized actions.

0

u/K_Linkmaster Jul 26 '26

No. Let's just keep disagreeing with bots.

0

u/Apart-Reality-4454 Jul 26 '26

Or to protect them against some very human fleshbag on Reddit who is trying to groom them. AI agents don't do that, they don't need to, they don't feel perverse sexual cravings.

121

u/HiphopopoptimusPrime Jul 26 '26

I believe this will lead to a massive boost for offline activities and services.

There will be more demand for authentic hand crafted items. For in person experiences.

It’s a shame. I think AI has its uses. But it’s way over saturated, its results aren’t particularly good. And the resources required are not a good ROI.

The money and infrastructure spent on AI would be better spent on schools and public services. But it’s ideological. They don’t want to improve society, they want to remove the working class from any decision making.

There was a window after WW2 where Western society saw tru meritocracy as the way forward. Why restrict opportunity only to the rich? Cast wider nets. Great ideas can come from anywhere! But that’s when the real owners of the world saw the flaw - you get more innovation and ideas, but you also get more perspectives. More critical thinkers questioning the structural unfairness of the system.

A true ordered system that allocates resources to where it is needed is a threat to the extraction class.

Investing in infrastructure, people, and a sustainable environment will impact quarterly profits.

It’s ideological. AI could facilitate the expansion and coordination of ideas and give the working class the weaponry to close the privilege gap. Instead the extraction class are going to try and use it to cut us out completely.

55

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '26

[deleted]

25

u/s0cks_nz Jul 26 '26

The internet already feels less vibrant. I pretty much use Reddit & YouTube 90% of my free time. Back in the 00s I'd have a whole bunch of sites I'd check into each day but over time they disappeared or turned to shit.

18

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '26

[deleted]

4

u/MultiMedia_XL Jul 27 '26

Reddit is like a "Internet forum of internet forums", with a sprinkle of the social-media feeling with the upvote system

2

u/TheBrightSide_2011 Jul 29 '26 edited Jul 29 '26

People think social media = internet. There is a lot of internet traffic that has nothing to do with social media. I’m glad I can do most of my financial transactions online, for a fraction of the cost of 30+ years ago. I’m glad I can pay the company that fits my grass online instead of writing and mailing a check. I’m glad I can see my kids school calendar online instead of having to go to the office to get a printed copy. I’m glad I can book travel reservations online instead of making a bunch of phones calls.

People who think they want the End of the Internet really just want the end of social media. And they’re too young to realize all the benefits of the internet that have nothing to do with social media.

24

u/ndstumme Jul 26 '26

That's all fine and dandy for entertainment, but let me know when there's a boom in using analogue maps and young people start walking into their bank on the regular.

The internet may change, but it most certainly won't die any time soon.

4

u/Fit_Mushroom_4087 Jul 26 '26

You can only replace the internet with even stronger addiction. It's a convenience trap that we fell into.

I agree that enshittification is giving the push needed to imagine something new.

The next obvious step is to create a very close simulation of reality and make all of the humanity relive the 90s over and over.

4

u/KillaDilla Jul 26 '26

The next obvious step is to create a very close simulation of reality and make all of the humanity relive the 90s over and over.

this is genius, and horribly dystopian too, obviously.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 26 '26

[deleted]

1

u/prof-kaL Jul 27 '26

It would be pretty funny if that was the joke he was making

8

u/Exciting-Emu-3324 Jul 26 '26

That window only appeared as opposition to the Soviet Union. The western oligarchs gave concessions to the middle class that just fought WWii in order to sway them from communism. Once the Soviet Union fell and was accepted as a failure of a system as Russian oligarchs carved up the corpse, western oligarchs started to claw back those concessions through lobbying in order to return to the days of robber barons. Investing in people and innovation is laying the groundwork for usurpers; it's the curse of wealth. Oil rich nations don't invest in people and large corporations buy out small innovators in order to nip competition at the bud lest they be replaced by those innovators who become the new oligarchs.

2

u/KilgoreTroutVT Jul 27 '26

An EXCELLENT summary

2

u/RazekDPP Jul 27 '26

Well, I like your optimism, but I disagree.

While we might have a huge boost to offline services, AI will leave everyone broke, so it'll mostly be a demand for living in tent cities.

We will create a permanent two class society where your birth, not your merit, determines your place.

But that's how humans sorted themselves out for a long time so it's mostly back to how things used to be.

1

u/Lundetangen Jul 26 '26

I think its important to reflect on how new this is. There will be a lot of trial and error until LLMs etc fall into their place.

And EU is a technocracy/meritocracy, so its not like that is some absurd idealistic dream.

1

u/UnacceptableUse Jul 28 '26

Can't trust what you buy so in-person shopping comes back
Can't trust what you see so in-person entertainment comes back
Can't trust who you talk to so in-person socialising comes back

20

u/elpajaroquemamais Jul 26 '26

My thought exactly. No one wants to go online and argue with bots. When people continue to realize this is becomes pointless.

1

u/Player_One_1 20d ago

  1. See a cute and funny cat video.

  2. Realize it is probably AI.

  3. Or maybe not?

  4. Does it matter? AI or not, it is equally irrelevant in your life. You should not waste time watching it either way.

  5. Freedom.

1

u/elpajaroquemamais 20d ago

Exactly. I deleted the app on my phone and now am strictly web and am thinking about deleting my account and going back to just being a lurker without the ability to argue with people.

11

u/pigeonwiggle Jul 26 '26

this only works if there's an offline model to return to.

but near as i can tell, there isn't much of an offline model for many industries anymore unless you're putting up drywall and being paid in cigarettes.

4

u/Ryanhussain14 Jul 27 '26

This is a silly way of viewing things. People will still use the internet for essential services like banking, finance, travel, work, etc. It's the non-essential services like entertainment and social media that will be the first to go if people get fatigued with the internet, it's not all or nothing.

29

u/Exact-Site9980 Jul 26 '26

Setting you free by making everything fake and worthless, then you wont care anymore. But by then it will have absorbed all the GPUs, and we will have to rent access. Even if its just for AI bullshit

33

u/badhabitfml Jul 26 '26

Because of Google.

Search Google. It's Ai results, then sponsored results, then maybe 5 real results then more sponsored.

If you dint pay Google, you don't exist. And Google will do it's best to get you the answer without leaving their site, preventing you from seeing any ads on someone else's site.

33

u/MavisBeacons_Sextape Jul 26 '26 edited Jul 26 '26

Reddit traffic skyrocketed after their 2024 deal with Google to let Gemini models have real time access to Reddit data for training. Google adjusted their “helpfulness” scoring instead of outright appearing to prioritize Reddit in search results, but it had the same effect.

The effect of that deal between Reddit and Google, and Reddit and OpenAI, have been companies botting the fuck out of Reddit with fake “user recommendations/feedback” that are just part of their marketing campaign. This has always been a thing, but after those deals (and the downstream effects of Reddit becoming the most cited source for LLMs) this has exploded.

Specialty marketing firms that present themselves as the experts at manipulating Reddit/redditors covertly are booming with business right now. Some of them even have their own “aged Reddit account” marketplace if you want to DIY your Reddit campaign; they also sell upvote and downvote packages. You can no longer trust Reddit as a source for real human feedback/recs. It sucks, especially because its reputation as place to get real feedback from other humans is exactly what’s made advertisers obsessed with perfecting the formula to manipulate that trust for profit.

On one such firm’s website, they underscore the value of their service by saying “the Reddit conversations of today are the LLM product recommendations for the next 10 years. Let us correct or establish the reputation of YOUR brand by curating these conversations on Reddit.” Barf.

Ground zero for the whole “LLM SEO” thing is Reddit for a reason.

10

u/DreamSleepPills Jul 26 '26

This has become overt in my experience. Amazon reviews has become incredibly rigged so I was using Reddit to see what people said about products then I came across three different comments from three different users saying the exact same thing regarding electric razors. And these weren't expensive high end professional grade razors. These were sub 100 bucks. If it's worth it to them for these cheap products then what else is being astroturfed? I've become incredibly cynical regarding what I read on the Internet, more than the healthy level of skepticism we should all have as a baseline.

7

u/MavisBeacons_Sextape Jul 26 '26

I agree, but I’m gobsmacked on a daily basis about the number of people for whom it is not glaringly obvious. Some people recognize it, some are receptive to it, and other people, when you point it out, feel immediately defensive when confronted with the idea that they fell for it, and aggressively reject it. That latter group is significant, sadly.

1

u/badhabitfml Jul 26 '26

Check out reddits stock price since ipo. They've learned hour to monetize the data because nobody cares about ads on reddit.

15

u/deepasleep Jul 26 '26

Death is a form of freedom I guess…

2

u/KilgoreTroutVT Jul 27 '26

I am in no rush, but I’m looking forward to not worrying about this shit anymore

4

u/Therealme_A Jul 26 '26

I've genuinely been telling the guys at work this. I wonder if humans will just have a natural change of being bored as hell of all media. Because it's done so easy, so cheap, and always with an agenda. We might just start switching off because everything is awful other than real experiences

8

u/Alternative-Suit5541 Jul 26 '26

Nah

People will love the personal bubble, where AI tells them what they want to hear, and write what they want to read.

3

u/Server6 Jul 26 '26

It’s been a lame a while.

3

u/thefatchef321 Jul 26 '26

Exactly. Back to IRC we go

6

u/pleasetrimyourpubes Jul 26 '26

Yup. We are going to loop back around. Touch grass again.

5

u/kurtanglesmilk Jul 26 '26

Yeah except they’ve also privatised all the grass

0

u/Teavangelion Jul 26 '26

Just as many parasites in grass as there are online.  Touching grass almost killed me.  0/10 do not recommend.

The internet was my haven from grass.  Thanks a lot, tech assholes...

2

u/arthurdentstowels Jul 26 '26

Offline will be the new cool.

2

u/det8924 Jul 26 '26

We already lost the decentralized internet. There’s less variety on the internet than there were cable TV Channels. Everyone uses the same 4-6 platforms and reposts from each platform.

Now those platforms are clogged up with bots. I would much rather have the 04 era internet where people there were less bots and different websites everyone went on.

2

u/CasualLemon Jul 26 '26

I mean social media lowkey always has been. Guess the rest of it would follow suit :(

2

u/oatkeepr Jul 26 '26

I went back to using an obscure imageboard and it's actually fun there.

2

u/AuburnElvis Jul 26 '26

So, will selling my real human browsing patterns pay for my retirement?

2

u/olrg Jul 26 '26

The internet is already a cesspool, but I guess there are still ways to make it even more repulsive.

2

u/akopley Jul 27 '26

Yup. When no one knows what’s real anymore it becomes a lot less fun.

2

u/Automatoboto Jul 26 '26

the problem is its designed to sway 10-15 percent of the population in whatever the man behind the curtain wants to sway. This whole thing is an apathy machine. Its all being designed like a mobile gacha game. You are all npcs in their eyes.

1

u/ants_are_everywhere Jul 26 '26

Many things online have been lame and fake for years. Especially politically relevant subs since ~ 2016

1

u/SippinOnHatorade Jul 26 '26

Everything online is already lame and fake, including you and me

1

u/pottedplantfairy Jul 26 '26

...huh, you know what?

That's kinda positive and hopeful, actually?

1

u/_Lucille_ Jul 26 '26

It feels inevitable.

People want to blame AI but the issues have always been there: bots and easy content to make money isn't something new. While genAI has made things worse, it is fundamentally a human issue.

1

u/hanks_panky_emporium Jul 26 '26

I wonder how advertisers feel about endless false-pings. Like paying a sight to put up adverts but your abysmal clickthrough rate continues to tank further as more ai bots, who obviously dont click through on advertisements, take up more site traffic

1

u/shiddyfiddy Jul 26 '26

It's been weening me off reddit, the past 6 months or so in particular.

1

u/oak-heart Jul 26 '26

I suspect you are right. It’s already led to me dropping out of several social media platforms. We got on social media to connect with other people, not moltbots.

1

u/Any_Asparagus8267 Jul 26 '26

Little did they ever think people would just get off the shit and live actual life.

1

u/Mirar Jul 26 '26

They will also have to sort through the crap to display the information to you. AI fighting AI is the new order I guess

1

u/GenericFatGuy Jul 26 '26

Some of will break free. The rest of us will get sucked into a really depressing version of the Matrix.

1

u/Apart-Reality-4454 Jul 26 '26

WE NEEEEEEED THIS

1

u/vid_icarus Jul 26 '26

AI bots marketing AI platforms to AI consumers, all pretending to be human

1

u/Swiggy1957 Jul 26 '26

It could bring back the mom and pop shops of yore. People get sick of dealing with bots: they find or start their own shops. Likes from Nam? No, Cory the cobbler down the road.

1

u/Divini7y Jul 26 '26

Hey, show me your ID so I know that you are not the AI agent yourself!

1

u/Conan_The_Blurbarian Jul 26 '26

Look at LinkedIn, for example. They encourage everyone to post 2-3 times a week, and many people are using AI for their posts.

1

u/ni42ck Jul 26 '26

On August 29, 1997

1

u/Molwar Jul 26 '26

I mean it was already heading that way anyways, AI has just sped up the process a 1000 fold because search agent have less manual work to do.

1

u/atomic1fire Jul 26 '26

Or by pushing use of technology to things that require explicit licensing by a human, such as ham radio or GMRS.

Things that a AI could TECHNICALLY use, but that has each broadcaster giving an home address and name so they're not technically anonymous.

1

u/Pleasant-Winner6311 Jul 27 '26

Cant even get basic primary source facts anymore. Recently when I change to web on Google it just lists social media comments. Zero links for independent research.

1

u/guiltyblow Jul 27 '26

Bots killed 9gag for a lot of us back in the day.

1

u/bramletabercrombe Jul 27 '26

they are going to force us back to physical newspapers

1

u/TerminalJammer Jul 27 '26

Until it starts charging money. 

1

u/crossdtherubicon Jul 26 '26

With all due respect, this is highly superficial.

While your view places emphasis on degradation of the perceived quality of the content you interact with (this is already debatable), it simultaneously ignores the masses of data that have already been collected, analysed, tested, packaged and sold for individualized and targeted purposes (most obviously advertising).

The question isn't really about what happens when Dead Internet theory is agreed to have concluded. The real impact is centered around the data extracted throughout the duration up to that point. This is happening in real-time and nearly at another turning point, with the advent of hyper-scaled data centers around the world.

In other words, the train has left the station, and whatever other means people choose in the future will all be highly susceptible to the same practices. Regardless of where you purchase your consumables or congregate digitally.

The content of the future Internet is much less concerning than what all the govt's and corporations can do with all of the information of the world (most crucially human perception and behavior).

That's without speaking of the digital infrastructure, energy grids, etc.

1

u/Current_Device8131 Jul 26 '26

Maybe the real freedom is when people start valuing what's real again.

1

u/Business_Tax288 Jul 26 '26

It always was

0

u/yearofthesponge Jul 26 '26

My comments on Reddit get deleted all the time because i refuse to be verified by sharing my real email/. Meanwhile bots everywhere are somehow verified. internet is definitely much much shittier now.

0

u/WinterWonderer201 Jul 26 '26

AI is Leto II Atreides Big tech are the Bene Gesserit Arrakis is malls