Artificial Influencers and the Dead Internet Theory (link.springer.com)

A short opinion piece in AI & Society argues that social media is shifting from human connection to AI-driven content economies, as “AI influencers” and generative systems increasingly populate feeds. The article links this trend to the so‑called Dead Internet Theory — once speculative, now more visible with large‑scale generative models — and highlights concrete manifestations such as lifelike retail “live‑streamer” bots and platform initiatives (e.g., Meta’s AI influencer programs). The author warns these shifts amplify algorithmic dopamine mechanics, erode digital trust via high‑quality deepfakes, and may worsen mental‑health outcomes, especially among young people. For the AI/ML community the piece underscores practical technical and ethical priorities: detection and provenance tools to distinguish human vs. machine content, robust deepfake identification, watermarking and content provenance standards, and rigorous evaluation of downstream social effects of deployed generative models. It also calls for human‑centric design, digital literacy, and policy engagement to steer commercial AI toward preserving authentic interaction rather than maximizing engagement. In short, the story reframes generative AI’s success as both a technical achievement and a societal inflection point requiring multidisciplinary responses from researchers, engineers, platforms and regulators.