We're sunsetting PodQuest on 2025-07-28. Thank you for your support!
Export Podcast Subscriptions
cover of episode How dead is the internet?

How dead is the internet?

2025/5/17
logo of podcast More or Less: Behind the Stats

More or Less: Behind the Stats
AI Deep Dive AI Chapters Transcript
People
G
Gareth Tyson
T
Tom Coles
Topics
Tom Coles: 我在本期节目中主要探讨了互联网流量中机器人占比的问题，特别是“死亡互联网理论”以及社交媒体上机器人的影响。我发现，虽然“死亡互联网理论”有些夸张，但互联网上确实存在大量非人类的机器人。这些机器人不仅影响着互联网流量，还在社交媒体上扮演着重要的角色，例如参与选举干预、品牌推广等。然而，要准确估计互联网上机器人的数量非常困难，因为缺乏全面的数据和有效的识别方法。尽管如此，我们仍然需要关注机器人的影响，并采取相应的措施来维护互联网的健康和安全。 Gareth Tyson: 我作为计算机科学教授，主要解释了机器人的定义、类型以及它们在互联网上的活动。我指出，机器人是连接到互联网并与其他系统或用户互动的自主软件。虽然有些机器人是恶意的，例如参与僵尸网络攻击或窃取个人数据，但也有一些机器人是良性的，例如网络爬虫用于收集数据。关于互联网流量中机器人占比的问题，我强调Imperva公司的数据仅反映了该公司所监测到的机器人流量，不能代表整个互联网的情况。此外，由于缺乏全面的数据和有效的识别方法，要准确估计互联网上机器人的数量非常困难。因此，我们需要更加谨慎地看待关于机器人占比的各种说法，并从多个角度来分析机器人的影响。

Deep Dive

Chapters
The podcast starts by introducing the "Dead Internet Theory," a conspiracy theory suggesting the internet is controlled by AI and the deep state. While the theory is easily disproven, it highlights the presence of bots on the internet.
  • Dead Internet Theory conspiracy
  • AI dystopia
  • bots on the internet

Shownotes Transcript

In the early 2020s, a conspiracy theory started circulating online known as the “dead internet theory”.

This suggested that, instead of a vibrant digital super-community where people freely share things like cat videos and conspiracy theories, the internet was instead basically dead - an AI dystopia controlled by the deep state, where almost everything you see and interact with is generated by computers.

The theory that the internet is 100% dead can be easily disproven, but the theory does hint at something real. The internet certainly is full of “bots”, autonomous bits of software that are definitely not alive.

In this episode, we investigate one specific claim about the number of these bots on the internet - the idea that more than half of internet traffic is bots. Where does this claim come from, and is it true?

Presenter/producer: Tom Colls Production co-ordinator: Brenda Brown Sound mix: Giles Aspen Editor: Richard Vadon