The Dead Internet Theory and Ethical AI: A Scoping Review

The rapid proliferation of artificial intelligence (AI) driven content generation systems has fundamentally transformed the structure, dynamics, and epistemic foundations of the contemporary internet. Amid this transformation, the “dead internet theory” has emerged as a popular yet controversial narrative, suggesting that a substantial portion of online activity is no longer driven by human users but by automated agents, bots, and algorithmically generated content. While often dismissed as a fringe or conspiratorial idea, the theory raises legitimate ethical, sociotechnical, and governance-related concerns that intersect directly with ongoing debates in ethical AI. This scoping review systematically examines academic literature, policy documents, and interdisciplinary scholarship to map how the core claims of the dead internet theory align with empirical research on automation, algorithmic mediation, and AI-generated content. The review identifies key ethical challenges related to authenticity, trust, manipulation, transparency, and accountability in increasingly automated digital environments. By situating the dead internet theory within established ethical AI frameworks, this article reframes the theory not as a literal claim about internet “death,” but as a diagnostic lens for understanding structural risks associated with large-scale automation of digital communication. The study contributes by clarifying conceptual boundaries, synthesizing existing evidence, identifying research gaps, and proposing directions for ethically grounded internet governance in the age of generative AI.