PhysicsForums and the Dead Internet Theory (2025)
hallofdreams.org108 points by bmacho 4 days ago
108 points by bmacho 4 days ago
Using AI to fake posting activity is bad.
Using real member accounts to post the fake AI content is so much worse.
I can’t even imagine the thought process that led to thinking it was a good idea to generate fake posts but assign them to real users. If they were going to fake posts, why not fake the users, too? They turned one bad decision into a much worse decision.
It must be sad to see your proud little corner of the internet decline in popularity, but this move took whatever positive historical vibes it had and lit them on fire.
> Using real member accounts to post the fake AI content is so much worse.
Yeah, that part seems not just ethically bankrupt, but also really really stupid and counterproductive?
It all made a bit more sense to me when I learned that the guy who did all this is not, in fact, a physicist like I had originally assumed, but rather an "SEO lead at Shopify". [1]
everyone involved in seo is a ghoul poorly masquerading as human in my book
> the thought process that led to thinking it was a good idea
Seemingly that can be found here: physicsforums [dot] com/threads/official-response-to-allegations-of-ai-misuse-in-pf.1078532/
> During the past several months, to counter declining engagement, I experimented with generative AI, intending to add value to "thin threads", especially those with 0 replies.
> For experiment #3, I used real accounts that I considered to be decade-old spammers as best I could tell, but I can't be 100% certain. I categorically regret and reject such a shameful and unethical decision.
(that website also modifies your clipboard when you copy stuff, big fuck you to the site owner, seemingly lacking any sort of guiding compass, good riddance to them)
But what's the end game envisioned here? Turning the website into an LLM proxy and hoping enough suckers look at your ads instead of those from other sloperators?
Boosting impressions to maintain "passive income" is one possibility.
I’ve seen niche forums in the past insert affiliate links, so when somebody clicks on that HP graphing calculator they go straight to Amazon and the site operator gets a 2% commission. This was the approach of a website that plagiarized Obscure Sorrows and was discussed here on HN (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48611823).
And then there’s tinfoil hat territory: massive influence operations that span multiple forums and Wikipedia and random blogs to support specific points of view about scientific claims, preferred technology approaches tied to commercial platforms, and even historical claims such as who or what developed a scientific concept.
Like other zombified sites, it exists to collect ad revenue from Google. It's amazing how despite 25+ years of technological change, that Google's decades-old "click ad" model is stronger than ever.
"Fake posting activity" is a weak framing. It is real activity. The risk in allowing AI-generated content is that users will be able to sniff out low-quality content produced by AI that they don't find engaging, but if they don't like it they can always leave. If users love it then AI-generated content is not bad at all.
Here’s the problem - it’s the same problem in many areas where AI is put to (ab)use:
I already have my own AI accounts. Several of them, really. Some of them paid. For work and for personal. If I want any kind of take from AI, which is in fact a very frequent occurrence, I can just prompt for one. For free even! And with my choice of model based on how important or complex the topic. There is zero value-add for me when some product decides to squirt an extra helping of AI somewhere it wasn’t needed. Summary of a long piece of text (while still giving access to the unabridged text)? Probably fine. An AI answer to a question someone else posted on a forum? Or injected above my web search results (looking right at you, Google)? No thanks!
I'm not sure you have explained the problem. You have explained why PhysicsForum might not appeal to you, but it doesn't have to appeal to you. It is not a problem if it doesn't appeal to you. It never appealed to most people.
Xp84 made a clear description of the real problem— i.e the one everyone talks about and which the OP is about too.
You’re basically saying that if “you have a problem with something, then it’s your problem” - well shit - that’s exactly the meaning of having a problem with sometimes and you’re literally restating it saying it’s in fact not a problem— presumably because you want to be contrarian on the internet, or why is that not a problem?
The thing is that, by common definition, a problem ceases to be a problem when there is a solution. To not remove problems from the pool once they are solved would leave everything to be a problem forevermore, which isn't useful. I appreciate your desire to want to play a game of semantics and pet definitions so you can get your pent up angst out, but it is uninteresting. To restore good faith, how about you introduce an actual problem into the discussion?
By the same definition wars are just procedural ceremony establishing the right solution to a problem. Stalin, Hitler also offered “solutions”.
I can easily follow xp84's comments and random3's comment. I see no games with semantics, just a straightforward complaint about dishonest use of AI slop. Which the site owner acknowledges.
Given your understanding and emotional disconnection, perhaps you can rationally explain their position?
There is complaint, like someone complaining that they don't like your new haircut, but it is ultimately not their haircut to worry about. How is your apparent poor choice in style a problem to the onlooker?
The complaint seems to be that users of that site are harmed by having their IDs taken over and by being offered very inaccurate answers. It's an abuse of trust. But that's just one very narrow perspective.
Let's imagine that a tapeworm is living inside your body. You might complain. But I'd see nothing wrong. Only users with tapeworms, who also objected to being parasitized, would have grounds for complaint. (Keep in mind, many of them might not have any symptoms yet.) So, with no reason to complain, maybe the rest of us should conclude that tapeworms are beneficial and everybody should get one.
So I think some commenters here are saying, no, tapeworms sound like a health problem. But they're revealing more about themselves than about their understanding of the big picture. To me, no judgement, but those commenters come across like human beings. If I'm a worm, these "health problem" complaints are the problem. The solution is for people to keep quiet.