Please Remove Me

The topic of AI and bots is not a new one, especially on Vocal. Since comments were introduced to Vocal, the issue has become even more apparent, and quite honestly - it's reached a point of being infuriating to me.

As this technology becomes more sophisticated, it can be harder to sniff out what's genuine and what isn't. Still, there's a certain gut feeling that comes along with receiving a bot comment, and once the pattern of consistent evidence starts trickling in, well - it's hard to ignore. When the comment consistently rolls in 30 seconds after posting an article with a 5-minute read time, or the comment doesn't make any sense in relation to the piece being commented on, or the same pattern of discrepancy between reads and likes shows up on every story certain individuals comment on/like... you put the pieces together, eventually.

And what can I say - I don't like dishonesty.

I keep seeing my friends who work very hard on leaving thoughtful, genuine comments on nearly everyone they subscribe to's work get screwed over by this sort of thing come leadership board time. It's not even about the money, it's about the discouraging feeling of seeing someone work hard to be a light in the community, only to see another take the importance of that for granted by throwing a bot into the mix.

And I have to say since certain bots and writers who use coded scripts, or writers who have made multiple Vocal accounts to comment on their own Vocal+ account (harder to track with VPNs,) have received leadership board recognition, top stories, and the like (by complete accident, I truly think,) there has been an influx of more bots on the platform.

I was debating posting this but it's gotten to a point where I feel like I need to say something or risk losing the platform I love and its integrity to the bot tsunami. I don't know if people can't tell or are too polite to say anything... so, I decided maybe it's time I should speak out.

Today I want to talk about one very, verrrrrrry specific aspect of AI that I don't know if everyone knows about, though. For your consideration. But first, I need to take a bit of a detour (I promise it all leads back to the same place.)

I love playing League of Legends, however, I'm not very good. Therefore, I'm in the lower levels. Now, keep in mind that League is a live game with live players - that means no pausing and every interaction needs to be deliberated in real-time. Unfortunately, one of the biggest issues with being in the lower levels is that other players will use "scripted bots" to try and "level climb" without actually playing. These scripted bots are clumsy and mess up the entire game for everyone since the bot isn't playing in real time; the little animated character is following a coded script that is programmed with a sequence of commands to tell it what to do and where to go based off general data and statistics online, instead of the human player moving up levels by actually playing the game.

In short: it's cheating. And it never works. Especially not in the long run.

(Like... bro, you're bad at the game and you're bad at cheating? Why are you still doing this? Go away!)

Now let's say a user on Vocal was able to script a code with commands to automatically leave comments in a similar fashion. That means they don't ever have to read your piece or even remember your username, so long as they're subscribed or you're subscribed to them. The script just goes in and comments on subscriptions/subscribers' pieces with generic messages. That gives the writer all the time in the world to work on their own writing or leave the computer without having to put in the same effort or dedication many of us do to try and make it as a writer on the internet. This person leaves the appearance of being a hard worker or loyal reader and then racks up the reads, views, genuine comments, and money from Vocal while providing nothing authentic in return. Just the odd pop-in with a genuine comment to make the account look real every once in a while and avoid getting reported before letting their script-bot take over again.

Genuis! My goodness.

Now, I don't expect Vocal to be able to keep up with all these bots, scripts, and shenanigans. It's a lot and it's hard to tell for certain if a user is a bot or not, especially if they're using this method. No one wants to accidentally boot someone off their platform because they think they're a bot when really it could boil down to a language barrier or social awkwardness. In that case, I think with the ever-evolving, wide-open Pandora's box that is AI, we, as internet users need to become a little more savvy when it comes to protecting ourselves (and our energy) online.

The only solution I could really come up with on Vocal's end would be to add a comment box to the report feature to explain unique spam situations or to add a tickable box that mentions "coded script suspicion" to the report feature. A human moderator would have to go in and evaluate it, though, which costs money to make happen - we don't want our lovely mods overworked, and I don't know how Vocal's back end operates, so this is just a suggestion from my very narrow perspective! My only other suggestion would be to add a block feature (which I understand could also have its own setbacks/potential drama attached to it.)

So all I have left to say is this:

To the users who comment but don't read, use coded scripts, put a user profile that does well on Vocal through ChatGPT and ask for a poem or story based on that profile, plagiarize stories, or make multiple fake accounts to harass a creator - whether you're using a coded script or not...

Please remove me from your subscription list.

No number of surface-level comments or link bombs will make me support you. I will never read your work. If I already have when I thought you were real, you won't see my name again. You will find with time, I likely won't be the only one.

Which, honestly? Is sad. Especially if you're an artist who has created something worth sharing and you're using a bot just to boost numbers.

Don't let your ego destroy your art by destroying the most important thing you have as a writer: your readers' trust.

And if you aren't using a bot and are just spamming disingenuine comments, likes, and links because you think you're automatically entitled to eyes on your work? Or worse yet, plagiarizing because you think you're owed "easy" money? Well, you're just an asshole. A real-life human asshole.

But that doesn't mean you can't change and do better in the future.

Cheers!