Are bots, scammers, hackers, AI and trolls really able to make inflammatory posts on this forum?
I've noticed that whenever an weird, controversial, or irrational post from an OP appears on the forum, sometimes a participant will decide, “It's probably a troll” or AI or whatever.
So I thought it might be useful to clarify what these things actually are, because AI, bots and trolls are not the same thing.
AI: ChatGPT and similar AI programs can certainly write a controversial, ridiculous or completely fictional AgingCare question if someone asks them to. But AI doesn't ordinarily decide on its own, “I'm going to join AgingCare today and upset some people.” It has no personal desire to create controversy. Someone has to give it instructions and, if it's going to post something online, give it the ability to do that.
Bots: A bot is simply software programmed to perform actions automatically. Someone could theoretically create a bot that obtains email addresses, creates accounts and posts messages on forums. Bots are commonly used for spam, scams, advertising and other purposes. But someone has to create or operate the bot and give it a purpose. The bot isn't sitting around thinking of ways to annoy AgingCare members.
A human using AI: This is probably going to become increasingly common. A real person can tell AI, “Write a question for a caregiver forum about my 90-year-old mother who refuses to stop driving,” and then copy and paste the result here. The post may sound artificial because AI wrote it, but there's still a human behind the account and the posting.
A troll: This is an actual person who deliberately posts something provocative, exaggerated or false because he or she enjoys getting people worked up. Trolls existed long before AI. Unfortunately, the internet has never required artificial intelligence to produce stupid behavior.
And finally, there's the simplest possibility: a real human being made a weird post.
People say strange things. They exaggerate, leave out important information, contradict themselves, have unusual beliefs, seek attention and sometimes ask questions that make the rest of us scratch our heads. None of that proves that a computer wrote the post. Some people are mentally ill and there's nothing to stop them from posting here.
Could someone deliberately create AI-powered bots to make accounts and post inflammatory questions on AgingCare? Yes, technically that's possible. But why? Someone would have to set up and operate that system and have some reason for doing it ($$$). The fact that a post doesn't pass the sniff test to us or goes off the rails completely isn't evidence by itself that it came from a bot or AI or scammers. Spammers are trying to drive clicks to another location. Don't ever go to there to "check out" whether its legit or not. You'll just be taking the bait and doing exactly what they want, thus inviting more of the same.
The most likely explanation is an imperfect human made a poorly worded or downright weird post. Or, it may be a troll who just enjoys working people up, so don't feed the trolls by responding or pointing out they are trolls. The surest death for a troll is silence.
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Most controversial posts over the six years I’ve been here have been human in my estimation.