Twitter, now known as X, continues to grapple with a significant problem of verified bots on its platform. Despite the suggestion by X owner Elon Musk that implementing a paid verification system would help eliminate bots, the issue persists. A video circulating on Instagram Threads reveals search results on X where numerous verified bots post the message, “I’m sorry, I cannot provide a response as it goes against OpenAI’s use case policy.” This response indicates that these accounts are using AI to generate their posts.
The video was shared by Parker Molloy, a writer and former editor of Media Matters. Molloy expressed disappointment in the state of X, referring to it as a “ghost town.” Interestingly, Musk is currently suing Media Matters for defamation after the organization published screenshots of ads alongside hate speech on the platform. This legal action comes amid an advertiser exodus, which has impacted X’s potential revenue.
Some users speculate that the bot activity may be originating from X itself. The argument is that these blue-check accounts seem to be older, abandoned profiles that were resurrected and transformed into verified accounts using AI automation. This theory suggests that X may be artificially inflating its metrics, such as daily and monthly active users.
While it is possible that some of these bot accounts are old and abandoned, it is inconclusive whether they are being operated by X or by spammers who took over the handles. The “join date” displayed on these profiles indicates that some of the accounts are indeed older. Additionally, their content appears to be generated by an AI query.
Paid verification alone does not seem to be an effective solution to X’s bot problem, as Musk initially believed when acquiring the platform. Despite X’s efforts, there are numerous bots and bot farms that operate independently of OpenAI. Detecting these non-OpenAI bots poses a greater challenge. Only 202 accounts posted OpenAI’s automated response in the past 30 days, indicating that there may be more undisclosed bot activity that X has yet to address.
It is worth noting that X previously acknowledged a verified spammer problem and introduced new direct message settings to mitigate spam. However, these measures were unable to completely filter out spammers. The company claims to have around 550 million monthly users, but it remains unclear if this figure includes bot accounts.
X has not responded to requests for comment regarding the ongoing issue of verified bots on its platform.
The source of the article is from the blog scimag.news