To be more suspicious of disingenuous threads nowadays?

[HillyHoney]

I might be imagining this, but are there now a lot more threads along the lines of "AIBU to think that this [insert terrible thing] my [insert close relatives] do is actually not great? Just doesn't sit right with me, but maybe I'm wrong!" Tinkly little laugh implied.

It's usually qualified by a casual mention, as if not at all relevant, that the OP is saintly, moral and humble in various ways whereas the [terrible relatives] have also been in prison/are murderers/don't like puppies etc.

Are these increasing just to generate engagement and therefore ad clicks?? Who's writing them?! (Sorry, dont mean to be disingenuous there 🤣)

This website is full of ChatGPT/AI/Bot bollocks.

Once you spot the pattern and style, you won’t be able to un-see it.

But what's the point, @HansHolbein? Who benefits?

What are the hallmarks of a bot post?

The cynic in me….MN benefits. More content, higher traffic, more clicks, more revenue.

I've been noticing and wondering the same thing too. It's absolutely rampant on here now - I'd say up to 50% of threads are AI rubbish. What's the point? It just makes things very boring for the rest of us.

I haven’t noticed many AI posts but the number of trolls and adverts seem to have increased signifigantly. I don’t it’s just looks like more because the number of genuine posters has decreased.

It does make it more boring but also it makes me feel more cynical and jaded, which I resent a bit because I don't blinking need more reminders of it!

The ones I notice are the ‘…Please share your stories! I’d love to hear your tips / hacks / ideas!’

All spammy bollocks meant to guide users to somebody’s blog.

The AI-written posts stand out a mile. Lists of three, emojis, em-dashes and Oxford commas abound. I hate it. I’d rather read imperfect grammar than AI slop.

Yes, I particularly hate "So, indulge me...what are your stories of XX?"

I do love an Oxford comma though 😳

There do seem to be more "rage bait" threads that probably aren't real...I know this but they get me every time! 😬😄

@santasbaubles lol I use all of these!!! But English isn’t my first language - maybe ChatGPT and I had the same English teacher 🤔

@HillyHoney I think I know what you mean… BUT… I do sometimes caveat threads with some version of “just doesn’t sit right with me, but maybe I’m wrong!” because certain posters can be so black-and-white, and so willfully ignorant, that I’d rather write things in a way that invites a more nuanced and thoughtful response, and doesn’t give oxygen to posters who are just looking for a fight.

Yes, I hate how much I fall for them.

Completely fell for the 26 year-old City lawyer who left behind her Northern working class roots for London and doesn’t want to spend Christmas with her family, none of whom went to university and all had babies in their 20s etc etc. The penny dropped when the ‘mother’ jumped the shark with “she’s taller and prettier, I think she thinks she’s better than us”.

Such bollocks.

@asdiouwern, an interesting (and fair) point, and generally I completely understand that, but it's when posters say things like "My sister is stealing thousands of pounds from her disabled neighbour, just doesn't sit right with me"...of course it fecking doesn't, because it's very obviously not right!!

It reminds me of when people say they hate hospitals, or funerals make them really sad. 😳 thank you, Captain Obvious

The other thing that gives it away is a 3 word username (not always, these are auto generated so some people use them, but the AI posts always seem to have them, so along with other indicators I take it as a sign), they’re talking about something shocking/unbelievable/rude that “happened the other day” and they’re posting about it at 4am.

Half the threads aren’t real. Probably more. You just have to accept that I think. I’ve just read an op where the writer is up in arms because her twenty year old son has told her his girlfriend is pregnant but the op is thirty eight so….

Steady on, some of us love an Oxford Comma! 😁

YANBU - there have been loads of them recently. The poster never comes back either, they just post something really inflammatory and then disappear.

I, too, am here to support the Oxford Comma 😁

There are many posts describing an event in huge detail, more like a piece of fiction, sometimes with semi-pornographic details, all written in a level way, with no grammatical mistakes.
I think genuine posters in shock/distress don't write long narratives about relatives/neighbours .
I think these long narratives are AI
I think the post gets deleted if you comment that it isn't convincing. 🙂

But people using AI to help them write posts, is not the same as an AI bot writing the posts.

Id be very surprised if that was the case, maybe if you only read AIBU but the threads on the specific boards are going to be overwhelmingly true

I read the thread you're talking about when it didn't have many posts and I thought she was complaining about the method of announcing the pregnancy rather than the pregnancy itself

It’s not. But I think it would be helpful if people mentioned that they've used AI, so as to make clear that they’re not a bot.

I think there are a fair few posters who make deliberately goady threads because they are bored, find it funny etc.

What I find odd is the “23 are viewing this” thing, I really don’t think there are many users these days & it all feels very repetitive

I am an actual human being (I know this because I am in bed with a rotten cough) for whom Oxford commas are a hill I will die on!