en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dead_Internet_theory
2 corrections found
SocialAI, an app created on September 18, 2024, by Michael Sayman, was designed to chat with only AI bots without human interaction.
The date is wrong: SocialAI was already available before September 18, 2024.
Full reasoning
Multiple contemporaneous sources show SocialAI launched before September 18, 2024. TechCrunch reported on September 17, 2024 that the app had already launched, writing about users' reaction to "the app's launch late Monday," which places the launch on September 16, 2024. Apple's App Store listing also shows version 1.0 dated 2024-09-16. So September 18, 2024 was not the date the app was created/launched; by then it had already been out for at least two days.
2 sources
- SocialAI offers a Twitter-like diary where AI bots respond to your posts | TechCrunch
Published September 17, 2024. The article discusses the app after 'the app's launch late Monday,' indicating it launched on September 16, 2024.
- SocialAI - AI Social Network App - App Store
The App Store listing shows version history including '1.0 2024-09-16' and '1.0.1 2024-09-19,' showing the initial release predated September 18, 2024.
In January 2025, interest renewed in the theory following statements from Meta on their plans to introduce new AI-powered autonomous accounts. Connor Hayes, vice-president of product for generative AI at Meta stated, "We expect these AIs to actually, over time, exist on our platforms, kind of in the same way that accounts do ... They'll have bios and profile pictures and be able to generate and share content powered by AI on the platform." These accounts were quickly removed.
This passage mixes up Meta's timeline. The accounts removed in January 2025 were old 2023 experimental AI profiles, not newly introduced accounts announced that month.
Full reasoning
Contemporaneous reporting and Meta's own statement show that the January 2025 controversy was not about Meta launching new autonomous social accounts that month. The profiles that were removed had been introduced back in September 2023 as part of an earlier experiment. Meta later said the Financial Times article cited in the controversy described its long-term vision for AI characters on its platforms and was 'not announcing any new product.'
So this passage is inaccurate in two ways:
- It implies Meta's January 2025 statements were announcing the introduction of new autonomous accounts.
- It implies the accounts then removed were those newly announced accounts.
According to Meta's spokesperson, the removed profiles were actually older 2023 test accounts that resurfaced after the FT article and were taken down because of a blocking bug and the renewed backlash around them.
2 sources
- Meta is killing off its own AI-powered Instagram and Facebook profiles | The Guardian
The Guardian reports Meta 'first introduced these AI-powered profiles in September 2023 but killed off most - but not all - of them by summer 2024.' Meta spokesperson Liz Sweeney added: 'the recent Financial Times article was about our vision for AI characters existing on our platforms over time, not announcing any new product.'
- Instagram users discover old AI-powered "characters," instantly revile them | Ars Technica
Ars Technica says Meta had created the profiles 'a little over a year ago' and quotes Meta saying: 'The accounts referenced are from a test we launched at Connect in 2023.' It adds that the recent FT report was about Meta's vision, 'not announcing any new product.'