What's that coming over the hill?.......is it a ......... no !

You and me both Spikey, epecially when they end up talkig to themselves through multiple profiles. Although compared to other sites I've been on, I've not noticed trolls, I've had disagreements with people, but I've not had any threads monstered, or been followed round the site by people demanding answers or asking the same questions or just being rude.

Unknown said:

I think that bots are easily spotted and then ignored.

Some of them, yes.....obviously.

Some of them, not so much....evidently.

The same things apply with tr oils.

I haven't seen this myself. It's a shame, though. Also, I wonder who has the time to do this (I know trolls exist, but I just don't understand what they get out of it.)

Unknown said:

There is much talk of bots here so far.......but I was talking about monsters.

That was as clear as mud 

Unknown said:

What about tr olls? .... these can be both bot entities or human in form.

Who?

I've not seen anyone vaguely resembling an internet troll here for many months, perhaps more than a year.

But perhaps my memory or observational skills fail me 

I think what we see here ie our interpretation is also relative to our own perceptions and prejudices.

I reported a spam bot type of thing the other day, some are quite easy to spot like this one trying to sell me somethng, but do we know if AI isn't being trained on sites such as this? I wonder if they are do they end up talking to each other rather than humans?

There is much talk of bots here so far.......but I was talking about monsters.

What about tr olls? .... these can be both bot entities or human in form.

I've seen a human tr oll use ai generated text to look benign for a good few hundred "points" (in forum terms)......before then unleashing hate and destruction and revealing their true grammatical abilities and their unbelievably strong hatred towards everyone and everything autistic.

Tr olls are worse than bots.......but they often have many of the same features and tells.

I do not mind interacting with bots.....or humans......but tr olls are bothersome for the wellbeing of a place like this.

Unknown said:

There are a couple of users with always mega positive posts that seem unreal

....which are preferable to those which are purposefully being divisive.

Unknown said:

The other thing, is that some users may respond to posts not realising they are replying to a bot

I agree although I think bots don't tend to post questions/problems?

There are a couple of users with always mega positive posts that seem unreal but maybe I'm just a miserable old sod.

Unknown said:

Maybe we need a reverse Alan Turing test.

A rather worrying thought.

The other thing, is that some users may respond to posts not realising they are replying to a bot. So, to me, this is pertinent because - potentially (from my POV), actual human time may be wasted on something which has no meaning or value. It is this, which is at the centre of the issue, for me. I think.

Maybe we need a reverse Alan Turing test.

Maybe it's a sign of the times.

Maybe I need to get out more.

Moreover, I don't think this type of "old hat" medium, while I prefer it,  is what most people use these days. So it might be real humans are more likely to use more interactive media like tik tok, leaving more room here for bots.

I know what I'm comfortable with and what I know. I'll leave it at that.

Good point!

If someone said to me that by the time I was 55 that I would be witnessing good AI versus bad AI, I would have thought that The Terminator had come true.

Unknown said:

I think that bots are easily spotted and then ignored

Personally, if there is any ambiguity about whether a respondee is a bot or a human then I'd just wait and watch to see if they post again (rather than run the risk of unsettling a human who has just joined the forum).

Unknown said:

The risk being - a human user who has used AI to help form a post. Real people may end up alienated when trying to access support.

And that's happened here in the past although I don't know whether the person was using AI but humans have  responded to a query intimating their possible botism.

I think it can be offputting to the person posting (they may leave because of it) and on the whole (I may be naive) I think that bots are easily spotted and then ignored.

The risk being - a human user who has used AI to help form a post. Real people may end up alienated when trying to access support.

I personally don't want to waste time responding to a bot. So I simply engage far less now.

I accidentally saw that band in Barcelona when I happened to walk into a street festival.

I wonder if anyone still objects to bots being pointed out? I don't. Is that what you are talking about?

Flashing lights, of the anticipated frequency for a threat, have now passed.......and all appears quiet.

It turn outs, that there were probably two of them, interestingly enough.  Could perceive the one, missed t'other.

As Meatloaf said.......(oh no, wait, I'm still one short......but I've started so I'll finish).....2 outta 3 ain't bad [photo-finish and official determination pending on the third.]

That song was based, loosely, on 'Theme from Sparta FC' by The Fall.

The missing link between The Fall and The Automatic was At The Drive-In; who split into two factions. Sparta and The Mars Volta.

I just hit the wrong button - sorry!