Bot Detection

[Getragdogleg]

Is there a system in place to spot which users in the Forums are bots or even Ai ?

I'm asking because sometimes I'm not convinced the users we are interacting with are actually real or at the very least are just one person.

I'd been suspicious of the "Rufus Stone" account for a while because of posting habits and the long and odd hours the username put in and I am forming the opinion the same is true of other users.

Is there a tool the Mods are using to check users ? Years ago when I modded an Opel Manta forum we could see IP and posting times and other data that helped to see if it was a real person or a waste of time. Hopefully you guys have newer stuff ?

[cliffords]

If you were a BOT this is exactly the topic you would start .

[Funk]

cliffords said:

If you were a BOT this is exactly the topic you would start .

Playing the long game if he is though...!

[Oberheim]

[spitfire-ian]

[bigandclever]

Is that why they're anonymous-user now? Because if it's that easy to trigger, fk me, I've got a list for you. They're probably lunatics not bots but so what?

[zetec]

There was a weird post a day or so ago. Decent hot dog thread, the thread hadn't been posted on for 2 years yet a user with a few posts in a few months resurrected it.

[hidetheelephants]

Maybe they like hotdogs?

[The Redcoat]

zetec said:

There was a weird post a day or so ago. Decent hot dog thread, the thread hadn't been posted on for 2 years yet a user with a few posts in a few months resurrected it.

Good spot. They edited their post to add a spam link. They've been dealt with.

[butchstewie]

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?h=...

[OIC]

For the record, I'd just like to say that I am not now, nor have I ever been, a bot.

Maybe.

[Magic919]

I also have the same question. Every post begins the same.

This is more bot like https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/profile.asp?me...

[Getragdogleg]

Id love to know if any of the persistent np&e posters went silent after the Russian data centre attack yesterday.

[Matt Dell]

bigandclever said:

Is that why they're anonymous-user now? Because if it's that easy to trigger, fk me, I've got a list for you. They're probably lunatics not bots but so what?

No, those are different.

[bigandclever]

Matt Dell said:

bigandclever said:

Is that why they're anonymous-user now? Because if it's that easy to trigger, fk me, I've got a list for you. They're probably lunatics not bots but so what?

No, those are different.

I meant specifically Rufus Stone. My oblique point was if all it took was one report for a poster to be nuked within about 20 minutes I hope you do have a suitable tool to check their veracity. But it doesn't matter

[_Rodders_]

Getragdogleg said:

Id love to know if any of the persistent np&e posters went silent after the Russian data centre attack yesterday.

That would be interesting, shouldn't be too hard to determine either.

[Tisy]

I've reported loads and have a good eye for spotting them. There are certain cues in the syntax and vernacular used, along with very unique formatting with their sentence and paragraph structure which make them stand out.

The NPE sub forum is also awash with human influencer "bots" to spread propaganda using alt accounts controlled by the same person to make it look like theirs is the prevailing opinion.

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

Tisy said:

The NPE sub forum is also awash with human influencer "bots" to spread propaganda using alt accounts controlled by the same person to make it look like theirs is the prevailing opinion.

Seems a lot of effort for something that nobody gives a toss about

[RSTurboPaul]

Tisy said:

I've reported loads and have a good eye for spotting them. There are certain cues in the syntax and vernacular used, along with very unique formatting with their sentence and paragraph structure which make them stand out.

The NPE sub forum is also awash with human influencer "bots" to spread propaganda using alt accounts controlled by the same person to make it look like theirs is the prevailing opinion.

I am intrigued.

Would you be able/willing to share the accounts you think are being used as bot/alt accounts controlled by a single person?

I am aware we are not supposed to 'name and shame', but it seems it would be useful to understand the scale of the problem.

[Tisy]

RSTurboPaul said:

I am intrigued.

Would you be able/willing to share the accounts you think are being used as bot/alt accounts controlled by a single person?

I am aware we are not supposed to 'name and shame', but it seems it would be useful to understand the scale of the problem.

Obviously not, for the reason you've stated as it's impossible to prove remotely with absolute certainty. But it's not diffcult to see if you analyse the syntax and compare the content to other accounts in the thread. After some time observing you won't be able to 'unsee' it. Some alts clearly think nobody is paying attention and post within minutes of their other alts - loggng out from one into another. Always hard pushing and parroting the government narrative on whatever the discussion topic of the day is.

There's absolutely no question that there's a big number of bot accounts on here. Even Anthropic admitted in a seminar years when asked how they trained the AI to act like a human that they deploy them on big high traffic forums (like this) to train them. A forum with a mostly excellent standard of wrtten English and grammar is like the proverbial icing on the cake.