Published on 12, July, 2020
Perhaps I am naive.
Perhaps we can have a new "rule" making evident forms of non-human AI here as an offence.
I don't like what I see. Or perhaps the Genie is well and truly loose, for all of us, everywhere....unless in person, face to face?
I like face to face, one on one. Clear unavoidable transparency of reality.
We seem to be inundated with bots at the moment.
We get the obvious ones where they leave a link to some business or virus etc.
Then we get the ones that seem vaguely relevant but are responding to threads where the last post was several years ago.
Then we get the ones that start a thread, with a whole dissertation contained within, that is related to autism, but the 'person' just joined to say this one thing and then never returns.
It's irritating to say the least.
The ability to join the forum needs to be made much harder with proof of ID or the 'I'm not a bot' sort of thing - Captcha I think.
Ian said:I don't take any of the views posted here at face value, I want to be able to assess the credibility of the writer. This is even more critical with the emergence of AI and bots.
I have tended to take the posts at face value (apart from the really obvious bots) but with recent events on the forum, including posters who seem to be deliberately agitating, I've become less confident, which is a shame.
Homebird said:I wonder if people being asked to create a user name would work as I tend to be dubious of the NA.... names.
I wonder if that's so ... I don't know what AI/bots can achieve nowadays.
I doubt somehow that creating a forum name would be beyond them, sadly.
I have always queried anonymity. I respect that sometimes people post on sensitive, personal topics and may not wish to reveal their identity, but equally I feel it helps to know that you are dealing with a real person. Anyone here can find my identity using the information in my profile and about three mouse clicks. I don't take any of the views posted here at face value, I want to be able to assess the credibility of the writer. This is even more critical with the emergence of AI and bots.
I wonder if people being asked to create a user name would work as I tend to be dubious of the NA.... names.
It isn't possible to stop AI from being here. I have already encountered a human operator using AI to conduct their own exchange with me (and others)....until they didn't and the operator (a young and far less accomplished spirit) emerged from behind the AI use to show their grotesque and tortured human soul.
I found this experience sad, but interestingly educative. I suspect others could find such an experience rather upsetting or alarming. I'm more cautious with my goodwill these days. Accordingly, I'm all for measures to try and keep our exchanges as AI free as possible.....but probably in vain for the most part.
Tea and biscuits with each other in a field, under a tarpulin = the emerging sure-fire and secure way to properly converse together....as actual humans? Are we becoming like cows, or like refugees?
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On a different by linked tangent.....I suspect the "roving bots" will pick up some of my words above and be attracted to this place, in order to sow division and discord amongst us? We have developed a web and allowed ourselves to get caught up in it. I was in two minds as to whether to use some of the words above for this reason......but then again, I do love to experiment....and I am the OP, so F I.
As do I. I seem to recall I also mentioned a Captcha feature being introduced upon signup.
I'm hoping they think it's a good idea for the new site and it's added. A forum free from AI would be nice. I feel a lot more members would be active here and new members would be more inclined to stay if there was less bots about the place.
I agree with something needing to be done about bots, but please not more proof of ID. Proof of ID feels like a runaway train, not everyone has the right sort of proof or the ability to send it, so it will disenfranchise people who often already feel disenfranchised in a new way. I don't like Captcha, but it would be better than ID, but with captcha would there be a way for partially sighted people to still use the site?
Miff said: I think this site could benefit from it looking at how many AI accounts reach here.
Yep.
I dearly hope this thinking is being incorporated into the new site.
When they did the survey it's something (I think) I mentioned.
The Captcha seems to work well for a lot of sites. I think this site could benefit from it looking at how many AI accounts reach here.