Conspiracy

Weird conspiracy claims the Internet is 'fake'

By T.K. Randall
September 7, 2021 ·  91 comments

No, the Internet is not a fake produced by an AI... Image Credit: CC BY-SA 3.0 Junior Melo We've seen more than our fair share of 'out there' conspiracy theories over the years, featuring ideas and concepts ranging from the potentially feasible to the downright absurd.

This latest one - which suggests that the Internet we use on a daily basis is actually a fake created by an artificial intelligence - fits firmly in the latter category.

There seem to be different versions of this conspiracy doing the rounds, however what they all have in common is the idea that the original, 'real' Internet went down several years ago.Known as 'dead-Internet theory', the concept implies that the Internet was taken down by an artificial intelligence and that all the user-generated content you see online today has also been created by that same AI to put forward the appearance of a large number of users.

Some believe that 'the government' is secretly behind it all, with a group of highly-paid 'influencers' helping to perpetuate the illusion that the Internet is still buzzing with activity.

The entire thing is nonsense, of course, however such conspiracy theories provide an intriguing glimpse into how the human mind works as well as how such bizarre ideas actually get started.

Whether this particular conspiracy is likely to stick around, however, remains to be seen.

Source: The Atlantic | Comments (91)

Tags: Internet, Conspiracy