“The “Dead Internet Theory” is a concept suggesting that the internet has largely been abandoned by humans and replaced by non-human activity. It posits that most online content, interactions, and engagement metrics are driven by bots, algorithms, and artificial intelligence, creating the illusion of a vibrant, human-driven web.”
The theory doesn’t state there are no people on the internet, just that the majority of the internet is bot. Those bots are not created by the websites, but created by people who want to earn money farming content, manipulate people or just be annoying.