Mark Bot accounts different from human controlled avatars
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Jelly Doll
Second Life as a platform is unique in that it is user driven and user built.
There should be no doubt that when approaching an avatar that it's directly controlled by a human.
While it is undeniable that scripted agents provide utility and amusement, they should not exist in any form that allows them to be confused with a human controlled avatar. Ideally there should be no task in SL that needs fully fledged antonymous scripted agent to accomplish and LSL needs to be expanded to remove these edge use cases.
Survey and traffic bots are an annoyance, likely privacy breaching and often operating in ways that break ToS.
Self identification of accounts as bots has broadly been a failure and cop-out on the part of Linden Lab. LL need to be marking bots as bots automatically. It doesn't even need fancy AI to accomplish. Metrics such as teleports per hour, time spent in the same location, viewer channel, etc etc etc.
Confusion over what is behind an avatar has created a trope in SL that unresponsive avatars are in fact bots, that clubs and venues aren't occupied by individuals, the direct implication being that SL isn't a real place made and populated by real people.
No one wants to waste time trying to be be social with a bot.
AI chat bots are novelty and not a substitute for real people.
At the very least name tags should be flagged in some way that makes it obvious an agent is scripted in some way. Participation in local chat should be equally differentiated. profiles should be limited, etc etc.
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Tina Ravenwood
I think clear identification of scripted agents is important, especially as AI-controlled avatars become more capable.
One advantage of an official AI Agent API would be that Linden Lab could make identification and enforcement much easier. Instead of relying only on self-reporting or behavioral detection, avatars using an official agent authorization system could automatically be marked as scripted agents or AI-controlled avatars.
That could also make it easier to apply separate rules for traffic counting, region access, permissions, and abuse handling.
I recently submitted a related Feature Request proposing a secure AI Agent Bridge using OAuth 2.0 and granular permissions. One of the goals is exactly this: to make AI-controlled avatars more transparent, auditable, and easier for Linden Lab and residents to manage.
If anyone is interested, the proposal is here:
WeFlossDaily Resident
You can use a script to identify registered bots.
"But I have no way to identify non-registered bots!"
Neither does LL, hence why they don't attempt to mark them in a spoon-fed fashion for the players. Just imagine how annoyed people would get if they were constantly getting flagged as bots for not meeting arbitrary metrics to constantly prove their humanity.
Spidey Linden
Merged in a post:
Bot Sims labeled as bot Sims and Bots Labeled as bots
bokuwasekai Resident
There are quite a lot situations when we go to a sim thinking it's packed with people only to find tons of bots standing in the water / sky platform, id love to be able to distinguish between people and bots and bot's Sims (Sims that are full of bots)
Toothless Draegonne
Those who are honest about registering scripted agents, are already detectable with scripts. Those who are not, will continue to not show up as a scripted agent. If you suspect unregistered scripted agents, you can report them.
NyxObsidian Resident
Traffic numbers are deceptively and easily over inflated by bots. Any sim that uses bots for the sole purpose of fooling people into visiting their sim should be penalized by having their traffic numbers zeroed and suspended for a minomum of 3 months. Their deliberate deception robs legitimate sims of traffic by lowering their search ratings.
Toothless Draegonne
NyxObsidian Resident
Traffic numbers are far more easily inflated by holding traffic-game events. There's a lot of users out there who'll teleport to a place and click a button for a linden dollar.
I also have to question what this does for regions that block scripted agents except by access group/list, but still have a few plainly unregistered bots sneaking in? Should I bother even listing my sandbox on search?
SL Feedback
Merged in a post from Valibrarian Gregg:
Title: Concerns about Kindroid AI NPCs & Companions in Second Life
Details: The Virtual Worlds Education Consortium has some researchers looking into AI Companions impacting teaching and learning. We strongly urge Linden Lab to make a clear designation (color coding, titles, etc) to distinguish human beings as avatars and AI companions as bots. Is there a plan to help make that clarification?
Zy Butcher
Unidentified traffic bots are problematic. And LL is not doing anything to address this, not even when you report them.
saxman66 Resident
I 100% agree with this
Cam Chattoway
the fantasy.. would be diluted if I knew it was a robot. shh. don't tell me.
Cat Icon
Philip Linden Would be a good discussion point. This is a large scale issue that affects effective socialisation and communication inside second life.
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