Subject: How to identify bot and “AI” accounts For: @globcoco and @elduvelle Also: #Fediverse #Mastodon #selfhosting Image: Clones deployed to your instance Short link: https://dansu.org/identify-bot-and-ai-accounts globcoco and elduvelle discussed a Pixelfed account that had followed globcoco. She said, “Someone wants to follow me but it feels weird and I cannot remove him…” I’d like to point out something odd about the third account’s numbers. It isn’t a “someone”. That account was created just a few days ago, it has nothing on its profile 🅾️ it has zero 🅾️ posts, and yet it’s following over 100 accounts 👥👥 immediately after creation. If you see that combination in an account, assume [until proven otherwise] that it’s an “AI”. Note: #AI as the term is presently used doesn’t exist. That said, block its A[I]ss regardless. If a Fediverse account has nothing on its profile, zero posts, and zero “follows”, assume [until proven otherwise] that it’s a “bot” 🤖 [similar to an “AI” but older code and simpler in purpose]. The difference in purpose is that a “bot” is going to post #spam and an “AI” is there to suck everything that those who it’s “followed’ write into jars labelled “Clone”. Billionaires want dollars and pounds To copy us, they’ll dare Me here on the grounds You in mid-air Send in the clones Regrettably, non-empty profiles or introductory posts which seem real no longer mean that an account is necessarily human. 🙋‍♂️ I was tricked myself a few days ago by an introductory post that seemed real, though it was a little vague. In retrospect, the post was designed to seem compatible with any Fediverse instance. I’ve noticed an increasing number of these things over the past month. And I run a small instance. There is little doubt that they’re swarming 🐝🐝🐝 into some of the larger instances. The tips that I’ve mentioned above should help in the short term. However, in the long term, small to mid-size Fediverse instances might need to turn off automated registration or install gatekeeper software such as #Anubis.