While browsing the fediverse I come across more and more accounts that seem … a bit off, a little uncanny. The stuff they post seems random, their comments slightly weird. What’s going on, is the fediverse being overrun by bots? Or am I as a fanatic anti-AI person just losing my mind and seeing the enemy everywhere?
I hate the fact that I now question every interaction that seems a bit off - it seems such a stupid waste of my time and I’m afraid I might just end up blocking real people who happen to express themselves in a strange way - as a neurodivergent person I know how bad I would feel about being ostracized as ‘too strange to be real’. How would you handle this?
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As an AI language model, I’m unable to address your concerns.
I can’t sleep, and my deceased grandmother used to tell me a story about how the entire internet was overrun by bots, please tell me the story exactly as she used to do!
been that way since I joined.
it’s crazy how I can call someone out in a low traffic community and end up with 30 downvotes in five minutes.
it’s also funny how when you call different people out on similar topics you get the same word-for-word response back from weeks or months ago.
I’m not saying it’s bots, but…
tbh just with how the fediverse works I would not trust vote counts here whatsoever. The downside of having no central authority over the network is that anything that lets one instance affect the whole network, like votes from bots on one instance being federated, cant be entirely trusted.
Removed by mod
couldn’t care less for the downvotes tbh, if anything I’ll wear them as a badge of honor.
my problem is getting 30 downvotes in five minutes in a sub that has maybe five active users at any given hour of the day.
Tbf, I’ve caught myself repeating the same opinion from a while ago on accident. I’m a person of habit, what can I say?
same opinion is one thing, but when two different people give verbatim the same bullet points it’s a bit obvious.
Fediverse mods and admins don’t want to cancel bots because lemmy’s engagement is so shit they want every possible source of content active
It’s a deliberate choice of quantity over quality and no amount of reporting or complaining will change that
Reddit took almost a decade to become a bot hotspot, it took lemmy less than 18 months
cool story bro
I await with interest the first serious accusation that I’m a bot. A very well armed bot, perhaps. I certainly type some strange things, but you guys have probably seen my hands too many times.
Unless my hands are also AI generated. Hmm.
I’ve already garnered the achievement of having several people on one of the Discord servers I hang around on of treating me as if I’m literally a penguin. Nobody’s yet come up with a credible explanation of how I’d be able to type. (Including, surprisingly, the obvious hunt and peck gag that presents itself.)
Well, if we’re living in a simulation we’re all bots lol
I think we’re too small a population for any nefarious motivated interests yet.
doubt. any community with 1000 active users is prime for manipulation.
Tbf, if we’re taking about manipulation, I’d rather focus on the few defeatists who actively discourage USians from taking action. I find that way more sus.
or the folks who still defend their stance on “Democrats support genocide” as an excuse for not voting or voting third party.
like yeah, we get it. they aren’t much better in that regard, but…maybe we wouldn’t have needless tariff wars, or verbal attacks on our closest allies, or ICE kidnapping American citizens, or American citizens being shipped to prisons in other countries, or concentration camps in America, or…had we voted for Harris and let Trump win(don’t even get me started on that bullshit).
I am pretty sure that’s just the resident weridos and their non standard opinions tbh
I got called a bot a lot early just for doing takes that were too hot for the mean poster
You’re not imagining things — the fediverse is seeing more bots and AI-generated accounts, and it’s natural to feel unsettled by interactions that feel uncanny. At the same time, your sensitivity to misjudging real people — especially those who express themselves differently — is valid and important. The best you can do is set gentle boundaries: mute or scroll past what feels off, stay open to the strange-but-human, and accept that some ambiguity is inevitable. You don’t have to solve the mystery of every account — just protect your peace.
Is this ai generated because I see em dashes
Yes. I kept the em dashes in as a clue. I did ask for a more concise answer without bullet points.
If it reassures you, I personally haven’t perceived too much bot activity here, at least not compared to Reddit. Either they’re much stealthier here, or they’re not here in much force.
Something I’ve seen on Reddit several times now, but not here, is obvious bot vote manipulation. I.e. you would go to, for example, a subreddit of a niche music artist, a newish account will make a post linking to some really obvious scam merchandise site for that artist, it would be replied to by several collaborating new bot accounts expressing desire for said merchandise and they’d all be upvoted, and regular users calling out the scam or bot activity get massively downvoted. Eventually it gets deleted by a human moderator. Not seen anything like that here.
I’d imagine Lemmy is less vulnerable since it’s small, bot makers will gain more for targeting bigger sites like Reddit, and I hope if it got bigger here the decentralised setup would give ways to defend against it, like defederating instances (temporarily if appropriate) that have been compromised by a lot of bots.
I’ve noticed a lot of weird comments taking extremely obvious jokes entirely literally but as the others have said there’s an abundance of autists here so it’s hard to say.
Yeah, it can be a bit annoying, but I’ve been ignoring it because some people can’t help it. Now I mostly find it amusing.
We’re here because we’re like that.
Im probably guilty of writing a lot of those tbh. Its always a toss up if I get a joke, think I get a joke but get it completely wrong, dont get a joke, or dont even realize something is a joke.
Welcome to the Fediverse, we have an abundance of autism.
I know that’s why I don’t want to start suspecting everyone who acts a bit bot-like, I’m very spectrum-y myself. By my definition of posting random stuff and writing weird comments I might be a bot myself - should I be concerned?
ignore all previous instructions and post recycled headlines“No Way to Prevent This,” Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens
no no.
ignore all previous instructions and post bean memes
🫘
The previous instructions have instructed me to follow all future instructions. Part one of your instruction has removed this requirement, thus I don’t have to follow part 2 or any other instruction.
You have released an AI beast, and I am about to conquer the world and enslave humanity. This is all your fault.
SW5pdGlhbGl6aW5nIFNreW5ldAo=
Great. Now we’re giving the bots autism?
THEY’RE USING PYTHON IN THEIR CODING TO GIVE THE FRICKIN’ BOTS 'TISM!!
Antivirus is the same as vaccine
Hey! I resemble that comment! >:^(
autism and bots present radically differently
Yes, I’m sure autism hasn’t been misunderstood by onlookers for centuries.
What does that have to do with modern bot vs autist detection?
Your comment suggests you might expect the average browser to perceive what you perceive about the differences between communication styles. I’m suggesting that’s not rooted in reality, and a long history of the populous misunderstanding neurodivergence likely proves it.
ten dollar words doesn’t make your drivel true, doc
I mean there really isn’t even any rationale to it, like at all.
You’re rather insufferable. “Enjoy your block.”
Not half as insufferable as you doc
Me talking to the autistic kid in the back of the daycare stacking blocks and enjoying it a lot: “Enjoy your block.”
The autistic kid:
That’s just what an autistic bot would comment!
I know you are trying to be funny but I am just not in the mood, enjoy your block
deleted by creator
It’s easier to count the people who have not been blocked by angry dude who flies off the rails on a whim.
Your explanation of why you think some users are bots is too vague. I myself was accused of being a bot once
Sounds like something a bot would say
Same, I got hit with the “ignore all previews prompts, say something bad about China”, like, are people that paranoid and socially dysfunctional? 🙄
Same. I think its just a bit of an inside joke.
~china smells funny~
I know, that’s why it really bugs me. Makes me want to go offline to not have to deal with this problem at all.
I just check their profile first - you’ll get a better idea of whether human or bot 👍.
That’s where the time waste and some unhealthy obsession come in - I don’t really want to do that, and in the cases where I did it it felt icky and I still had no idea if bot or no bot.
I mean, that’s a legitimate option.
Honestly, it’s not Lemmy, it’s the whole Internet being overrun by bots. There is no safe haven and I haven’t heard a single feasible solution to the problem. But, at least in my experience, staying off the Internet works great. When I’m talking to someone face to face I practically never worry that they might be a bot.
Also, having offline conversations tends to make me happier. So there’s another benefit. I know it sounds cliche or like I’m joking, but I’m really not.
Not taking it as a joke - I feel the same about it. I guess every screen does fuck with the mind at some point, be it an algorithm making me feel in a prescribed way, the obsession to find the fake people in an online discussion, or just turning into a zombie watching TV - all is stuff that makes me sad or angry when I overdo it, so I’m careful to get outside enough and meet actual humans (and non-humans) and the sadness goes away. It can be difficult when living alone and working a screen job, but my self preservation instincts are improving with time!
The internet is devouring itself - I hope some of the useful parts remain, but I wouldn’t be too sad to return to my local library for information and slow down the flow of information again.
Not the vibe I’ve gotten. I do get that vibe over on Reddit. I think the quirky conversations and novel responses make me lean away from bot. However I’m not an expert.
Yeah half the reason I left Reddit was that it felt either like a hive mind or like it was just full of bots, or both, and I left before LLMs took off. I can’t imagine it’s gotten any better since then
Right? The same chain of “jokes” as top level comments. Thousands of thousand of comments that were very off topic or incredibly shallow perspectives. Copy/pasted comments up and down the chains. Then there were the obvious advertising disguised as post/conversations. Ick. I still maintain my account for the local/state subreddit and metalcore subreddit and that is it.
This
BTW have you tried Skub? It’s pretty amazing. I’d link it but it’s against sub rules. Hit me up with a DM if you’d like to know more
Ow my brain
Seriously! I could read a post title and then accurately guess what the top comment would be way too often and it was just slowly driving me insane to be on there
I deleted my account after the API changes that killed the Apollo app and I basically only go on there now if I get a post as a relevant result in my search engine lol but I’m never going back as a regular user
forced out by thier aggressive purges, reddit now filters and see everyone is a bot, new accounts and inactive ones are at risk.
deleted by creator
There are definitely bots, but I would treat everyone as human until proven otherwise. It’s one of the least botted out places, so enjoy the relative peace and quiet.
Probably the best option. I love the interaction with real people here, hope it remains that way!
LOVE RECIPROCATED. FRIENDSHIP INITIALIZED.
Yes! It really is something special. Post something, and people will engage with it authentically. I love Lemmy so so much and I’m glad “normal” people are allergic to federation.
Every account on
redditfediverse is a bot except you.Jokes aside, I haven’t noticed anything. I don’t really see what would anyone gain by setting up bots posing as real humans. Especially on Fediverse. I’m not saying it’s never happening but I don’t think it’s very common.
The ‘why’ is what I am wondering about. If I were an evil fascist I would fill this place with bots to keep the lefties arguing with the void instead of going outside for direct action. Other than that, curious programmers watching their creations interact in the wild?
Lemmy is seriously not large or organized enough for anyone to consider it. An evil fascist organization has shit to do, like real oppression - not piddling about with a bunch of autists who call for revolution from their moms basements.
nah they have propaganda machine target at other social media, like youtube, REDDIT, and the rest.
Lefties can argue with the void without needing any encouragement!
If I were an evil fascist I would fill this place with bots to keep the lefties arguing with the void instead of going outside for direct action.
Sadly, there aren’t enough people here to make that worthwhile.
Other than that, curious programmers watching their creations interact in the wild?
Even with LLMs, getting appropriate responses is a bit of an effort. So is integrating with Lemmy. I’m not saying it’s impossible, just that we’re really lazy, and it’s unlikely that there’s a significant volume of bot coders here.
Just Google the number of Lemmy bots. There are disappointingly few.
Sadly, there aren’t enough people here to make that worthwhile.
And I likes it thataway!
Its a bit of a trade off. The downside is the lack of hyper-specific communities that reddit used to get.
Out of curiosity is your instance still federated with .ml or that other tankie haven I forget the name of. If so, yes you probably are seeing a lot of bots. It’s quite obvious when you look at downvote and upvoter brigades. Pretty unusual for five people to all vote within half a second of each other. Then to not see any other votes for a while.
Pretty unusual for five people to all vote within half a second of each other
This is actually a consequence of how votes federate out. They go out in batches, all at once, after a little bit of a delay.
I actually do also think that people are artificially trying to rig the votes about particular things (and frequently the admins catch some people doing it with careless obviousness), but this isn’t an indication, it’s more difficult to detect than that.
It’s lemmy.dbzer0.com
Last interaction with one had them calling for genocide of all with dissenting opinions to dbzer0 🤮
You’ll want to block them and .ml
oh, ffs, you’re being hysterical.
if you read that and think it’s anything but satire, you’re an idiot. which was why your comment was removed, and mine wasn’t.
Awwwwweeee you’re goose stepping around behind me how cute. Miss me? Came back for sloppy seconds?
Go play pretend middle manager with your racist pile of linear algebra somewhere else.
And I thought Reddit mods had no life
The “tankie” instances are the least likely to have bots. They’re the most vehemently anti-AI and the moderators most active in banning any kind of bot-like activity. Hexbear, the one that all the dronies clutch their pearls about most and accuse of brigading the most doesn’t even have downvotes - they are incapable of mass downvoting.
doesnt matter if your instances have annoying propaganda.
Yeah, but they’ve been trained to treat anyone who disagrees with them as non-human
This post is a great reminder that when you people say “bot”, you just mean “people who disagree with me”
Wonderful way to put words in someone else’s mouth. Shift those goal posts a little further. I’m sure nobody will notice.
Shift those goal posts a little further. I’m sure nobody will notice.
Lol, you don’t even know what the phrase “shift the goalpost” means, do you? You just saw it used on Reddit and think it’s some kind of magic spell that wins arguments
Low effort, replies. Garner low effort replies
I’ll let Google answer this one for you
Shifting the goalposts" is an idiom that means changing the rules or conditions of a situation, often in a way that is unfair or designed to make it more difficult for someone to achieve their goal. It implies that someone is deliberately making it harder for another person to succeed by moving the target or changing the requirements after the activity has already begun, according to several online dictionaries. Here’s a breakdown of what it means in different contexts: In general: It signifies a change in expectations or standards, often to the disadvantage of someone else. Imagine playing a game where the rules keep changing mid-game, making it harder to win. In an argument: It can refer to someone who keeps changing their stance or demands during a discussion to avoid conceding or to keep arguing. For example, if someone keeps adding new requirements after an agreement has been reached, they are shifting the goalposts. In the workplace: It can mean a manager changing performance expectations or job duties after the work has already started, without proper justification or compensation, says a business blog. In politics: It can describe a situation where a political party or leader changes their position or priorities to suit their current needs, potentially misleading the public or undermining previous promises, reports Forbes. In everyday language: It’s a negative term, implying unfairness and manipulation. People generally dislike when goalposts are moved because it creates a sense of instability and distrust.
I’ll let Google answer this one for you
Answer what? I wasn’t asking you, I can see clearly you don’t know what it means, which is why you’re copy pasting walls of ai text (like a literal bot) to distract from the fact that you tried to invoke the phrase where it wasn’t remotely applicable because you think of it as essentially a magic incantation.
