Speaker 1: This is a clip from Beyond Truth. You can access
Speaker 1: the entire episode now on our website and all podcast platforms.
Speaker 2: There's nobody there at zombie Land, and we're in it.
Speaker 2: We are making our own zombie Land, Isn't it crazy?
Speaker 2: And tonight we're gonna be talking about that. Nina, You're
Speaker 2: gonna fill me in and all the juicy answers and
Speaker 2: help me figure out what this dead that is all over.
Speaker 1: I know it's crazy, So it's not a new concept.
Speaker 1: This has been out there for quite a while, more
Speaker 1: in the fringe end of it, sort of tongue in cheek,
Speaker 1: you know. The whole dead Internet theory has been sort
Speaker 1: of a conspiracy theory, I guess, for quite a while. However, nowadays, though,
Speaker 1: we have to revisit this because now it's starting to
Speaker 1: feel more real, you know. I'm sure you've all noticed,
Speaker 1: you know, how many bots are out there and all
Speaker 1: this kind of stuff. So now I think it's time
Speaker 1: to sort of look into this, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: We haven't really talked about this before. It's been one
Speaker 1: of those things that you've heard about, but we hadn't
Speaker 1: really touched on it. So that's what we're going to
Speaker 1: do tonight, We're going to look at that whole theory
Speaker 1: and then you guys make up your own mind. What
Speaker 1: do you think, you know what I mean, leave us
Speaker 1: some comments sound below if you don't mind, before we
Speaker 1: even get going to smash that, like, share this out
Speaker 1: so we can spread the word out there, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. And yeah, let's get into it. So
Speaker 1: the dead Internet theory, the idea is that the Internet
Speaker 1: is no longer mostly real people talking to real people. Instead,
Speaker 1: more and more of what we see online might be bots,
Speaker 1: AI generated content, fake engagement, fake comments, fake influencers, fake trends,
Speaker 1: and now even fake videos and fake voices, and this
Speaker 1: is becoming a problem, right, So that's why we're looking
Speaker 1: into this. And when you add then the AI deep
Speaker 1: fakes to this, so that's the other part of this
Speaker 1: is sort of the dead Internet, but also the AI
Speaker 1: deep fakes is what we're going to go into because
Speaker 1: they kind of go hand in hand, you know what
Speaker 1: I mean. This is becoming a problem for people like
Speaker 1: I know, for me, I have a hard time, you know,
Speaker 1: figuring out what's real, you know what I mean. It
Speaker 1: looks so real, it looks like the person is saying that,
Speaker 1: and yet it's fake, so we really got to be careful.
Speaker 1: But well, when you add the AI deep fike into this,
Speaker 1: the question becomes scary. How much of the Internet is
Speaker 1: still real? Are we seeing a real public opinion? Are
Speaker 1: we watching real people? Are we reading real comments or
Speaker 1: viral trends organic or are they being pushed by bots
Speaker 1: and algorithms? And I can answer that right now that
Speaker 1: that's exactly what goes on. You know, it's it's we
Speaker 1: all have the question like where who who decided that
Speaker 1: that's trending? Now? Who decided that this is what's in now?
Speaker 1: You know what I mean? And it's always been sort
Speaker 1: of that way with influencers and whatnot, But now with
Speaker 1: the Internet, I mean, it's just ridiculous. But if video, audio, photos,
Speaker 1: and comments can all be faked, then what happens to truth?
Speaker 1: So tonight we're going to go into the dead Internet
Speaker 1: theory AI deep fakes, both manipulations, fake reality scams, political deception,
Speaker 1: and the spiritual side of what happens when humans can
Speaker 1: no longer trust what they see. So all right, so, Robert,
Speaker 1: do you feel like that the Internet is different now
Speaker 1: than like ten twenty years ago? When it first came out.
Speaker 1: Do you feel like it's different?
Speaker 3: Well, first off, are you real, Nina?
Speaker 1: Maybe it's not even me. It's my double gainer.
Speaker 3: You know, we need your gospel gat safe.
Speaker 2: Right, Yeah, we gotta have a safe word exactly. But
Speaker 2: you know what, it's gonna read my mind, because that's
Speaker 2: what the internet does. It reads your mind. It does
Speaker 2: you ever think of that?
Speaker 1: I feel that way?
Speaker 2: And then or is it the Box center doing the
Speaker 2: thing in Moreau?
Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't know. Something has really changed.
Speaker 2: I know I look this up and and it said
Speaker 2: it was back in twenty ten.
Speaker 3: Heck, I didn't even use the computer back in twenty ten.
Speaker 2: I didn't really get good at the computer until probably
Speaker 2: twenty sixteen was when I finally figured out what the
Speaker 2: Internet was and really using it myself. So anything before
Speaker 2: that point.
Speaker 1: Really, I don't know.
Speaker 3: You know what I'm saying.
Speaker 1: Okay, so I know the Internet then way before you
Speaker 1: as like I like, we were one of those first
Speaker 1: people that got the Windows ninety five. That's when we
Speaker 1: you know, like the computer had been out for a
Speaker 1: while before that, but we didn't have a computer in
Speaker 1: our house until the Windows ninety five. I was the
Speaker 1: big craze when that first came out, we did go
Speaker 1: out and get a computer right then. So I've been
Speaker 1: on the internet since ninety five mm, so I remember
Speaker 1: like the beginning of it, which is kind of neat. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you missed the whole decade. I can't sell it, eh.
Speaker 2: You know that it goes to prove something to you, see, Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know what it was like.
Speaker 3: It's like that like us, you know, we grew up
Speaker 3: with the.
Speaker 2: Phone on the wall, you know, on the dial or
Speaker 2: maybe no phone at all, and a party line and
Speaker 2: all of that. And now the kids they have a
Speaker 2: cell phone and they don't even know what a dial
Speaker 2: phone is or party line.
Speaker 1: It's hilarious when you I've seen these things where you know,
Speaker 1: you bring a couple of young people to try and
Speaker 1: figure out that the rotary dot was hilarious. I laughed.
Speaker 1: I tee myself, laughing at myself. Yeah, I wish I
Speaker 1: had kept one of those phones and just for it
Speaker 1: to see what the grandkids would do with it, but
Speaker 1: I never did. But yeah, it's hilarious.
Speaker 2: It is. But that's the same thing with the Internet.
Speaker 2: When I got on it, you know, I knew what
Speaker 2: it was. I was just experimenting and kind of looking
Speaker 2: at stuff. I remember sitting on it and going, wow,
Speaker 2: this is cool.
Speaker 3: Oh boy, you.
Speaker 2: Know, and now you know, now I'm finally, you know,
Speaker 2: immersed into it. So I only know one way, and
Speaker 2: it's it has been morphing and changing slowly, some things
Speaker 2: for the better and other things for the worse.
Speaker 1: So not to drag this out anymore, but I remember
Speaker 1: back in the day, like even as a content creator,
Speaker 1: you know, researching, you know, you would find all kinds
Speaker 1: of things. Now it's all scrubbed out. They you only
Speaker 1: find what they want you to know. Now, before everything
Speaker 1: was out there for everybody to find. And so I've
Speaker 1: definitely noticed a huge difference. I'll go and look up
Speaker 1: something that I looked up ten, fifteen, twenty years ago,
Speaker 1: can't find it anymore. It's gone. Even Wikipedia a scrubbing
Speaker 1: certain people out. There's a lot of a lot of
Speaker 1: differences in there. But anyways, let's keep on script here
Speaker 1: because otherwise this show will take up all night. But
Speaker 1: so it claims that much of what we see online
Speaker 1: is created or controlled by bots, ar generated post fake accounts.
Speaker 1: That's another thing, the fake accounts, like you know, algorithm manipulation,
Speaker 1: corporate campaigns most you know, or the things you see
Speaker 1: how there are ads people are paid for you to
Speaker 1: see this, you know what I mean. You think you
Speaker 1: might think it's content, but really it's an ad, is
Speaker 1: what it is now. And then you've got the political
Speaker 1: influence operations, I mean, engagement farms and automated system pretending
Speaker 1: to be real people. And this is the problem. Now.
Speaker 1: I don't think that every person online is fake. Obviously
Speaker 1: we know our friends and family and whatnot, you know
Speaker 1: what I mean. And I don't think that the whole
Speaker 1: Internet is dead per se, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1: But I do think a lot of people feel that
Speaker 1: the Internet has changed most definitely. It used to feel
Speaker 1: more human. Old forums, blogs, comet sections and communities feel
Speaker 1: real people talking. It feels like it's real people talking.
Speaker 1: Now everything feels more controlled. Some topics trend everywhere at once,
Speaker 1: people repeat the same phrases. Commet sections feel fake, articles
Speaker 1: sounds copied. Search results feel less helpful. They certainly do.
Speaker 1: They don't have any of the stuff that we used
Speaker 1: to get. We used to get everything, Like I said,
Speaker 1: now you only get a small snippet if you get
Speaker 1: anything at all, depending on if they want you to
Speaker 1: research that, if they want you to go down that
Speaker 1: rabbit hole or not so and sometimes it feels like
Speaker 1: the Internet is just machines talking to machines. Why humans
Speaker 1: sit there watching And that's basically what we talked about
Speaker 1: last week. You know what I mean about mold book
Speaker 1: and the Crustaferian thing. That's a whole nother rabbit hole
Speaker 1: that if you haven't checked that out, go and watch that.
Speaker 1: I might link it at the end here at the
Speaker 1: end of the show, so that if you miss that show,
Speaker 1: go and check that out, because that's basically kind of
Speaker 1: what's going on. That's not just the theory that's actually
Speaker 1: going on. Okay, so it's not just that bots exist.
Speaker 1: We know bots exists. The deeper question is our bots
Speaker 1: and ai ai now shaping what we think society believes.
Speaker 1: And unfortunately that is what's going on, because if fake
Speaker 1: counts can make one opinion look popular, real people may
Speaker 1: follow along. And that's the problem with people, is that
Speaker 1: people just go along to get along something saying oh,
Speaker 1: this is what's in now everybody's doing it. I remember
Speaker 1: saying that as a kid. Well, mom, but everybody's doing it,
Speaker 1: and so if everybody's doing it, then we want to
Speaker 1: do it as well. And that's the human nature and
Speaker 1: they are cashing in on that unfortunately. And so you know,
Speaker 1: again it goes back to who decided that that pants
Speaker 1: style that we're wearing now, you know what I mean?
Speaker 1: Or this is the in color this year, or whatever
Speaker 1: it is that they're trying to influence, you know, and so.
Speaker 2: Well I can hear it now right now. You know,
Speaker 2: I'm breaking in because I hear it right now. I
Speaker 2: know the chats they're screaming out and they're saying, what
Speaker 2: is it? The mom's said, bum says, if everybody goes
Speaker 2: along to get along, doesn't mean you don't.
Speaker 3: You don't have to do what they're doing. Don't be
Speaker 3: a follows.
Speaker 1: If all your friends jumped off jumped off the bridge,
Speaker 1: would you do it too? You know what I mean? Like,
Speaker 1: you know, just because everybody else is doing it, it
Speaker 1: doesn't mean that it's the right thing to do. That's
Speaker 1: the idea, right, So but.
Speaker 2: But that but again, you and me talking about it
Speaker 2: about five minutes before the show about huh, you know,
Speaker 2: use using the chat, you know, and it's like, hmmm,
Speaker 2: well everybody else is and but it is the end
Speaker 2: thing right now, and someday it might be the out thing,
Speaker 2: and but it's helping us, and uh, is that for
Speaker 2: the My question you is, is that for the better
Speaker 2: or for the worse? Is that making us better people? Humans?
Speaker 1: I would say no, probably to that, And yeah, you
Speaker 1: know we we are, you know, doing the same thing
Speaker 1: like we were talking before the show that you know,
Speaker 1: we're using the AI and you know, and those who
Speaker 1: aren't are behind. People aren't going to watch the shows
Speaker 1: if you're not keeping up with you know, all the
Speaker 1: graphics and the shorts and all this stuff, you don't
Speaker 1: do it. If you just do what we did ten
Speaker 1: fifteen years ago, nobody will see your show, you know.
Speaker 1: So we're kind of forced to have to do it
Speaker 1: as well if we want to keep up with the Joneses.
Speaker 1: That's exactly what it is, you know. And so yeah,
Speaker 1: we're not exempt from it either. So but yeah, let's
Speaker 1: get because if fake accounts can make one opinion look popular,
Speaker 1: real people may follow along. I guess I already said
Speaker 1: that humans are social creatures, and this is where we're
Speaker 1: getting to what I was just talking about. We look
Speaker 1: around to see what other people think, right, and what
Speaker 1: they're doing. So if boss can fake public opinions, they
Speaker 1: can influence real public opinion. This is where it becomes dangerous.
Speaker 1: So have either of you even seen a comment section
Speaker 1: that felt fake? Who coordinate? Have you seen a comment
Speaker 1: section that feels fake or coordinated? Do you even go
Speaker 1: into the comment section? I don't know.
Speaker 2: There are comments I've seen that look pretty plain, Jane,
Speaker 2: But it's knowing how to spot them because they're getting
Speaker 2: But the thing is they're getting better. It's just like
Speaker 2: when you're talking to a bot or what have you,
Speaker 2: or you're watching a AI generated video.
Speaker 3: The video.
Speaker 2: A bot won't repeat itself and they won't say incorrect
Speaker 2: words like you know, you know, you know, you know
Speaker 2: that that kind of stun thing. Yeah, that's a human
Speaker 2: thing exactly, and we are so used to hearing that,
Speaker 2: and then then when they don't, we say, oh, that
Speaker 2: sounds kind of kind a little odd, you know. And
Speaker 2: the voice could be really sounding human. I've seen ones
Speaker 2: where it really sounds human. The text sounds too good
Speaker 2: to be. You know, people don't talk like that. That's
Speaker 2: what I'm saying. Don't match what we would come out
Speaker 2: of our filthy mouths.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you can kind of you can hear it on
Speaker 1: the dialogue, whether it's AI or not. That's true. Now
Speaker 1: I actually have firsthand experience here because the way they've
Speaker 1: set up social media as well as YouTube and all
Speaker 1: these platforms is that you pay to play. If you
Speaker 1: don't pay, you don't go anywhere. And so I did
Speaker 1: once when I had that giveaway there a couple of
Speaker 1: months ago, I actually, uh went and paid money for
Speaker 1: that video, okay, tonor to monetize it or I can't
Speaker 1: remember what it's called now, but I gave YouTube some money, Okay,
Speaker 1: sure enough. Now, all of a sudden, it