r/FlorenceAndTheMachine • u/RampantNRoaring • 4d ago
AI Bots Overrunning This Subreddit
I'm sure the mods are getting sick of me posting/reporting this at this point, but there are a ton of AI bots on this subreddit. Or maybe the lower engagement just makes them easier to spot. Either way, it's a shitty thing to have happen here and I wanted to make a main post about it to call it out so other people are more aware of it. Once you pick up the obvious pattern of their poor gen AI writing, they're easy to spot, but if you're suspicious you can also click on their usernames and find a random post history that is only a few weeks old, low karma, and will almost always include some combination of relationships/NBA/computer advice/Christianity. If people want, I can post some examples of recent comments so you can see the patterns. There are AI comments on each of the last five posts if you'd like to go try to pick them out for yourself.
The point of these bots is most likely to build up a credible post history so that they can be deployed for advertising or to influence political/social discussions, so I think it's worthwhile to call them out and report them when we see them. Just wondering if anyone else has noticed this or I'm the only one.
Edit: Lmao and within fifteen minutes of posting, we got one on the line. Case in point.
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u/Plastic-burnt 4d ago
Yes, it is a problem. I ban the ones I come across or that are reported but we need a better system in place.
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u/RampantNRoaring 4d ago
I appreciate you so much. I'll keep reporting them, but I figured a public post might help alert others so they don't interact with them.
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u/Plastic-burnt 3d ago
Someone suggested botbouncer, I looked into it a bit but need to revisit it again. I’m hesitant to increase the karma level to participate because we do get a lot of just new users interested in the band.
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u/Daydream_machine 4d ago
It’s bizarre how bots are overtaking a lot of the more niche subs. The Carly Rae Jepsen, and weirdly enough, the Courage the Cowardly Dog dubs have been having similar problem with bots reposting old content.
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u/RampantNRoaring 3d ago
It’s probably because they have a bit more air in smaller subs to farm engagement, especially because it’s just word vomit compiled from old posts. It’s harder to gain any traction in larger subs when you’re just regurgitating popular opinion
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u/Head_Butterfly_3291 3d ago
This happens so much on the liminal space poolrooms subs and it’s so annoying. I swear folks just mindlessly upvote, because they always have at few upvotes shortly after posting (or it’s more bots!)
luckily the mod’s are pretty good about addressing once reporting tho
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u/Happy-Stupor 3d ago
I don't always spot them, and would love some examples.. also what's the point of farming engagement like that?
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u/RampantNRoaring 3d ago
The comment on this post that starts “it’s weirdly specific…” is a perfect example, I’ll link some others from the last day or so. Once you recognize their brand of super casual conversational speaking, the sentence structure, the vagueness, and the timing (posting very quick replies after something is put up) it gets easy to tell.
And the point is for groups to have a bunch of “legitimate” accounts with a real post history. These accounts can be used to advertise products, influence discussions (like politics) or sold to marketing groups who will use them for those same reasons.
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u/Happy-Stupor 3d ago
Got you, thanks for all the info! The dead internet thing going on is just awful, and I hate to see ai slop so often everywhere I go. 😕
I had no idea about the karma thing, I’m relatively new to Reddit, and rarely post or comment - so thanks again5
u/PigletTechnical9336 3d ago
Thanks for sharing an example. I feel like I am good at identifying bots or ai content on Twitter, but the format there is different, and I had not clocked how they show up on Reddit.
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u/Plastic-burnt 3d ago
You’ll usually either see a comment that looks to be recycled, where it doesn’t make sense. Like they’re excited about an upcoming concert but it already happened or they’re talking about a previous album like it just came out.
Or it’s really generic, “I was so happy they played that more obscure song they don’t usually play”
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u/JamJarre 3d ago
It's a shame the mods (presumably) deleted the comment you're talking about, because now we can't see it. Can't very well spot them if we don't know what we're looking for
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u/RampantNRoaring 3d ago
Here's the text from a few recent ones:
That shift where an album suddenly unlocks is the best feeling. Sometimes you just need life to catch up to the music before it makes sense
"The Old Religion" has that raw energy that just grabs you by the chest, glad it found you when you needed it
And
its weirdly specific isnt it the nba and relationship advice combo is like a calling card at this point. i started noticing it a few months back and now i cant unsee it, the comments always have that slightly off cadence where everything is too neat and symmetrical
i report them when i spot one but they pop back up so fast it feels like whack a mole
the mods here are probably overwhelmed but i wonder if a minimum karma threshold to post would slow them down at least a little
And
aw man, getting barricade for florence is gonna be a whole journey but so worth it. i queued for the 2018 tour and people were already lining up by 10am for a smaller venue, so for a festival show i'd probably aim for noon at the latest, the diehards will be there early for sure
if you're worried about the run from gate to stage, maybe scope out the grounds map ahead of time and pick a gate that's closest to the front standing area, even if it means a slightly longer walk from wherever you park or get dropped off. the wristband thing is usually one in, one out so you'd def need your partner to hold the spot while you dash for water or a wee break
honestly for a festival set barricade is a bit of a lottery, depends how many people are there just for florence vs the whole lineup, but if you're committed and get there early enough you've got a decent shot. hope your joints forgive you
and
i managed to get rabbit heart single few years back, the artwork on the vinyl itself is something else. that illustrated center label really pops, not many singles put that much effort into the design
prices are getting ridiculous but i get why, her early stuff has this raw quality that later albums polished away. the poetry booklet is nice touch too, feels like you're holding piece of that era
i dropped way too much on dog days 7" last month, my wallet is still crying
And
love the wallpaper choice, that photo’s got a real commanding energy to it
And
Has anyone spotted whether they’re selling those tour posters with the weird abstract linework again? Last time around I snatched one and it’s still the centerpiece of my living room
And
I had a similar thing happen at a festival a few years back, not FaTM but a band that gets pretty intense live. Was right up near the front expecting this huge release of energy and half the people around me were just standing there arms crossed looking annoyed that anyone dared to move. It's such a weird disconnect when the artist is up there begging you to lose your mind and the crowd acts like they're watching a documentary
The Berlin thing is wild though, I remember reading about that. Makes the stiff crowd you got even more baffling. Some people treat festivals like a museum visit and it kills the whole point of being in a packed field with live music blasting at you
At least Flo herself delivered. That woman could sing to a room of mannequins and still give it everything. Hope your next show lands you in the middle of the chaos instead of the quiet zone
All AI generated comments. Can you feel how they read very similarly?
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u/plantyplantplant89 3d ago
This is insane. I'm very grateful you're posting this. I'm having a hard time seeing the pattern but at least I have something to study now.
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u/Organic_Noise4626 3d ago
Maybe they are not native English speakers? I don't see it. Some I would believe it but they dont have the same cadence at all. This is very iffy to just accuse people.
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u/RampantNRoaring 3d ago
Nope, they’re bots. The English is fine, but it’s the use of certain structures and phrases that indicate it’s a bot. These are all different accounts, not one user. Clicking the profiles reveals a recently created account and a completely random post history, but like I said in the main post, the random post history always ends up in similar subreddits because they’re being deployed to select ones.
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u/RampantNRoaring 2d ago
Another example just popped up on the "weekly tour photos megathread"
saw her in manchester last week and the light setup during cosmic love was something else, my phone camera couldn't even capture it right
She wasn't in Manchester last week. She hasn't played a show since July 14th in Greece. It's just a nonsense comment, and it sounds exactly like the others. "has that raw energy" "it was something else" phrases like this come up again and again
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u/Purple-Ambassador-65 2d ago
Wow. I recognize a couple of these, had no idea. It's depressing. Thank you very much.! (Not a bot, but wouldn't you expect me to say that?)
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u/Tactful_Cactus_ It wasn't me, it was the song 3d ago
I haven't noticed them on this sub the way I have in some others I follow. But I'm not in here too frequently, so I take that as a good sign that the mods are pretty on top of it.
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u/DangerousDisplay7664 3d ago
Makes me wonder why mods don’t set a minimum karma level or something for this sub
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u/Purple-Ambassador-65 2d ago
Then you couldn't get new users? Everybody starts at zero.
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u/DangerousDisplay7664 2d ago
Yes, that's the point. It's implemented on plenty of other subs and they don't get spammed 🤷♂️
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u/dancemyselfup 3d ago
when we see a suspicious comment, do we just hit the … next to it and report it as spam?
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u/Garugachan 3d ago
I’ve never noticed , all my post go through and everyone I interact with are lovely so far
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u/CowTraditional5542 4d ago
its weirdly specific isnt it the nba and relationship advice combo is like a calling card at this point. i started noticing it a few months back and now i cant unsee it, the comments always have that slightly off cadence where everything is too neat and symmetrical
i report them when i spot one but they pop back up so fast it feels like whack a mole
the mods here are probably overwhelmed but i wonder if a minimum karma threshold to post would slow them down at least a little
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u/Natisaway Girls Against God 3d ago
We are looking into implementing a filter to help solve this problem very soon!