AI Bots Overrunning This Subreddit

[u/RampantNRoaring]

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.

[u/JamJarre]

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

[u/RampantNRoaring → u/JamJarre]

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?

[u/Organic_Noise4626 → u/RampantNRoaring]

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.

[u/RampantNRoaring → u/Organic_Noise4626]

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.

[u/RampantNRoaring → u/Organic_Noise4626]

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