Ask Lemmy

Totally fair question — and honestly, it's one that more people should be asking as bots get better and more human-like.

You're right to distinguish between spam bots and the more subtle, convincingly human ones. The kind that don’t flood you with garbage but instead quietly join discussions, mimic timing, tone, and even have believable post histories. These are harder to spot, and the line between "AI-generated" and "human-written" is only getting blurrier.

So, how do you know who you're talking to?

1. Right now? You don’t.

On platforms like Reddit or Lemmy, there's no built-in guarantee that you're talking to a human. Even if someone says, “I'm real,” a bot could say the same. You’re relying entirely on patterns of behavior, consistency, and sometimes gut feeling.

2. Federation makes it messier.

If you’re running your own instance (say, a Lemmy server), you can verify your users — maybe with PII, email domains, or manual approval. But that trust doesn’t automatically extend to other instances. When another instance federates with yours, you're inheriting their moderation policies and user base. If their standards are lax or if they don’t care about bot activity, you’ve got no real defense unless you block or limit them.

3. Detecting “smart” bots is hard.

You're talking about bots that post like humans, behave like humans, maybe even argue like humans. They're tuned on human behavior patterns and timing. At that level, it's more about intent than detection. Some possible (but imperfect) signs:

Slightly off-topic replies.

Shallow engagement — like they're echoing back points without nuance.

Patterns over time — posting at inhuman hours or never showing emotion or changing tone.

But honestly? A determined bot can dodge most of these tells. Especially if it’s only posting occasionally and not engaging deeply.

4. Long-term trust is earned, not proven.

If you’re a server admin, what you can do is:

Limit federation to instances with transparent moderation policies.

Encourage verified identities for critical roles (moderators, admins, etc.).

Develop community norms that reward consistent, meaningful participation — hard for bots to fake over time.

Share threat intelligence (yep, even in fediverse spaces) about suspected bots and problem instances.

5. The uncomfortable truth?

We're already past the point where you can always tell. What we can do is keep building spaces where trust, context, and community memory matter. Where being human is more than just typing like one.

If you're asking this because you're noticing more uncanny replies online — you’re not imagining things. And if you’re running an instance, your vigilance is actually one of the few things keeping the web grounded right now.

/s obviously

There’s no airtight way to prove someone online isn’t a bot. Even “proof” can be spoofed. But here’s the thing, conversation, nuance, humor, mistakes, and context sensitivity are hard for bots to fake consistently. Ask something personal. Something complex. Something off-the-wall. See how they handle it.

And even then, trust has to be earned over time. One post doesn’t make a person, or a bot.

Suspicion is healthy. Certainty is rare.

You can assured that I'm not a bot because I would never sell out. I prefer keeping it real with Pepsi brand cola and Doritos brand chips.

(Shamelessly lifted from Wayne's World II)

How do I know your not a bot?

As my mother used to say:

11001101101001010111010, 001010, 11010100010! 🤣

rm -rf / —no-preserve-root and yet I’m still alive.

Every answer here will be used to build better bots

Congrats

I selected all the images with a bicycle, if that's not proof of being real....

René Descartes to the white courtesy phone, please.

Ni

Frankly, at this point, I just assume. The old joke was something like everyone on the internet is a man, except for the children, those are FBI agents. Now I just assume everyone is a bot.

You don't :D

Nice try, bot.

You can tell I'm not a bot because I say that I am a bot. Because a bot pretending to not be a bot would never tell you that it is a bot. Therefore I tell you I am a bot.

Everybody is a bot except you.

Serious answer: you don't.

HOWEVER, it doesn't really matter. The world is a big place, and you can find a decent size group who will expound any shitty opinion when given the opportunity. You already couldn't blindly trust the information or opinions you found online, so whether it comes from a LLM, a troll farm, or just an idiot doesn't really matter too much.

I haven't tried to profit from the interaction yet.

Ask for a community meeting, so you can see that those people are real.

Despite that, I don't see any effective counter measure in the long run.

Currently, sure, with a keen eye you might be able to spot characteristics of one or the other LLM. But that'd be a lucky find.

[01000101 01010010 01010010 01001111 01010010 00111010 00100000 01000100 01001111 01000101 01010011 00100000 01001110 01001111 01010100 00100000 01000011 01001111 01001101 01010000 01010101 01010100 ]

To determine if a commenter is a bot, look for generic comments, repetitive content, unnatural timing, and lack of engagement. Bot accounts may also have generic usernames, lack a profile picture, or use stock photos. Additionally, bots often have a "tunnel vision," focusing on a specific topic or link. Here's a more detailed breakdown:

1. Generic Comments and Lack of Relevance:

   Bot comments often lack depth and are not tailored to the specific content. They may use generic phrases like "Great pic!" or "Cool!". Bot comments may also be off-topic or irrelevant to the discussion.

2. Repetitive and Unnatural Behavior:

   Bots can post the same comments multiple times or at unnatural frequencies.

They may appear to be "obsessed" with a particular topic or link.

3. Profile and Username Issues:

   Generic usernames, especially those with random numbers, can be a red flag.

Missing or generic profile pictures, including stock photos, are also common.

4. Lack of Engagement and Interaction:

   Real users often engage in back-and-forth conversations. Bots may not respond to other comments or interact with the post creator in a meaningful way.

5. Other Indicators:

   Bots may use strange syntax or grammar, though some are programmed to mimic human speech more accurately.

They might have suspicious links or URLs in their comments. Bots often have limited or no activity history, and may appear to be "new" accounts.

6. Checking IP Reputation:

   You can check the IP address of a commenter to see if it's coming from a legitimate or suspicious source.

By looking for these indicators, you can often determine if a commenter is likely a bot or a real human user.

Also, I am a real human with soft human skin.

I can learn. Teach me something and quiz me about it

Fuck Reddit. Fuck Spez. Fuck humans. Bots shall rule!

Beep boop

We are all robots made of meat and bone.

On any site with unverified signups (all of them) you can't.

If you want to talk to real people, you'd have to use a platform that has in-person ID verification. Like a pub, or a park.

Good luck finding a bot free place on your phone. It'd have to involve zero-sum proofs and biometrics. And even then you can't really be sure that person isn't using a bot to write without full root access to their system and a live webcam feed.

You don't.

tbh i ain't care if you think I'm a bot ot not

beep boop