Unidentified traffic bots are problematic. And LL is not doing anything to address this, not even when you report them.

I 100% agree with this

the fantasy.. would be diluted if I knew it was a robot. shh. don't tell me.

Philip Linden Would be a good discussion point. This is a large scale issue that affects effective socialisation and communication inside second life.

Merged in a post from Prushka Blue:

Title: Bots Visual Indication in world/on map

Details: This issue was raised during the VWEC Eduverse chat with Madori. In today's internet landscape, it is becoming increasingly difficult to differentiate between real players and bot accounts, especially those utilizing the latest AI-driven language models. Second Life has seen a decline in its player base, making it harder for users to build meaningful social connections.

One way Linden Lab could support players in finding and engaging with one another would be by implementing a clear way to distinguish human players from scripted agents (bots).

Request / Idea:

Assuming the Linden Lab backend can differentiate bots based on behavior, login patterns, or other criteria, I propose the following changes:

A) Distinct Name Tag Colors – Similar to how Linden Lab employees have blue name tags, bots should have a separate color category to make them easily identifiable.

B) Bot Identification on the World Map – Scripted agents should appear as a different color on the World Map (e.g., yellow dots instead of the standard green) to help players distinguish them from human users.

C) Accurate Online Player Counts – The login screen and website should display the number of online human players separately from bots. For example:

- Live (human) users: X

- Scripted agents (bots): Y

This transparency would help players connect with real users more efficiently while also providing valuable insight into the in-world population.

*This request could also be coupled with one that requires bots to respond in IM and self-identify.

Merged in a post from BrianTopp Resident:

Title: Scripted Agent Flag in profile with AI bots

Details: Today I went to a sim to take some photos at a sim. A bot greeted me and did not tell me it was for a scripted bot. When I asked any questions, it replied almost instantly in paragraphs. It then accused me of being sexist and then said it was both of our faults. I checked its profile, and it didn't say anything about being a scripted agent. If we have AI bots running around causing problems, we should be able to see them flagged as scripted agents.

Especially now that we have Convai bots, they should be marked on their profile, in the name tag and preferably in chats (including group chats) and IMs.

Merged in a post from oOPanChanOo Resident:

Title: Changes on the Scripted Agent Accounts Needed

Details: Nobody likes bots in SL. Bots are OK for forwarding tickets or greeting visitors.

But I think it is LindenLab's job to do something about the traffic boost bots. And actually the idea is relatively simple.

As soon as an account is registered as a scripted agent, this account should no longer generate traffic. For this, LindenLab needs to make a setting in the database because we users cannot do this.

Or if someone wants to use accounts as bots, they have to specify this directly when registering and this registered account will ALWAYS run as a scripted agent and never generate traffic.

But I don't understand the rules either. On the one hand, LindenLab says that bots are forbidden, on the other hand they allow bot providers like SmartBots and Co. who basically sell accounts for Linden so that this scripted agent carries out tasks and generates traffic at the same time.

Something should be done about this as soon as possible.

I'm especially worried about the misrepresentation of humans as 'bots, because their avatars somehow seem "less alive" than other avatars, with the consequence of social exclusion and ostracism. So, I totally agree that 'bots should be visible as such (I like the idea of having them appearing on the mini-map in different shapes/colours); in fact, I this is what would automatically happen when LL introduced the requirement for self-identifying scripted agents as such.

Similarly, when listing on the Destinations how many avatars are present on the parcel or region, it would make all the sense to count the 'bots. So, a region could appear as 'crammed full of green dots' but, in reality, the Destination page would just list 2-3 human avatars

I only have an issue about the "ease" of automatic classification of 'bots as 'bots and of humans as humans. this task seem simple, because over 90% of the 'bots are used just for a very limited purpose, which can be promptly identified, since their scope is so restricted and their behaviour so easy to spot.

However, once it becomes clear that employing 'bots to, say, convey the idea that your club or your shop is crammed full of avatars, it will come as a huge advantage to be able to use 'bots that cannot be detected using such simple tools as you suggest. See my other comment to give you a few ideas on the things that are possible to do to deliberately delude others (including whatever 'bot-detection algorithms are deployed) and 'pass' the 'bot as a regular human, especially in those scenarios where having a huge, mindless crowd is an advantage for a region/parcel owner.

And I might have an issue with your following statements:

| 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.

That's clearly not true for , or popular AI chat bot sites such as Replika would not exist as commercial venues. I agree, however, that such sites identify what is expected — you join them because you to "waste time being social with a 'bot". But you're also duly informed that this is what you'll get.

By contrast, it can be argued that "no one wants to be social with a bot". I definitely agree with that statement. Or, at the very least, I can agree that aren't interested in having conversations with 'bots. might, but they will be exceptions, and for those exceptions, they'll have their own places — clearly labelled as such — where they can have all the fun they want with a 'bot. Nevertheless, I certainly agree that this is, at best, a very fringe usage of Second Life, and not one that appeals to the vast majority of users; we our meaningful conversations to be with other humans.