Add option in estate settings for allowing ConvAI bots but not Scripted Agents
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Send Starlight
Even though scripted agents are blocked with a checkbox on the region estate settings. There should be a second checkbox that allows ConvAI bots in even when the prevent scripted agents checkbox is set. That way region owners can keep scripted agents out but allow ConvAI bots to visit.
Update: Alternatively, a "Capabilities" concept could be provided for scripted agents. This would be similar to how phone apps have to declare which features of the phone they need access to, and then when users install an app they can decide whether they want to continue installing and allow those capabilities. In other words, you'd still only have 1 checkbox on the estate management for allowing or disallowing scripted agents. But, then there would be button that opens a separate dialog if scripted agents are allowed, that displays a series of checkboxes for the region estate manager to decide which kind of bots they would allow. By default all these checkboxes would be enabled until the manager unchecks them and hits apply.
Examples of capabilities; tracking users, conversational (convai), land/group moderation (e.g. smartbots), etc. I guess the only concern would be, bot owners could lie and declare the wrong capabilities and there'd be no way of LL to know. Whereas mobile device companies are able to scan the code during compile-time for usage of certain API. I'm not sure how to really solve that, unless LL has a TPV-like gatekeep registration process where only certain companies are allowed a specific capability, e.g. smartbots are known to only do land/group moderation and are trusted so they'd automatically get access to providing the moderation capability, and convai bots LL is providing are already trusted to only provide conversational responses when prompted so they'd receive that capability.
Also, possibly LL could require that the code for their scripted agent be on github and presented for review, to verify capabilities. If a company has a proprietary scripted agent and refuses to allow reviews of the code, then there could be a Capability called "Unreviewed / Proprietary" and that category is understood to mean that LL has no way of knowing what the scripted agent is up to, but at least the region managers are able to decide if they want to risk allowing those or optionally then disallowing them but allowing others that have declared their capabilities and were code reviewed. Regardless how it is implemented ultimately, having this as a separate dialog and set of checkboxes would provide for more types of bots to be whitelisted based on capability. Whereas my previous suggestion above was a specific checkbox only for convai and didn't take into account the vast variety of other types of scripted agents available.
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Spidey Linden
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Issue tracked. We have no estimate when it may be implemented. Please see future updates here.
nulshift Resident
I'd like for the opposite setting too, if this gets added. Allowing scripted agents but disallowing ConvAI
RestrainedRaptor Resident
It sounds like what you really want is a kind of 'verified bot' tag, like those given to popular bots on Discord. And along with that, some way for bot creators to certify what their bots will and won't do.
Send Starlight
RestrainedRaptor Resident Yea, it kind of evolved into that concept after I gave it some thought.
Bleuhazenfurfle Resident
Wasn't there an allow list or group or something? If not, there should be. Then the region owner/manager/whatever can just allow in specific bots as they need.
Otherwise, I rather agree with Peter Stindberg there, especially that LL should not start playing favourites, and it'd be a mess trying to get people to tag/categorise their bots on top of acknowledging that they even are bots to begin with.
Send Starlight
Bleuhazenfurfle Resident I checked and the allow list doesn't let a scripted agent in if the region is set not to allow them. Regarding getting them to acknowledge, if they fail to list their scripted agent currently, then the scripted agent account and their main accounts get banned that's already a punitive action at the moment.
Toothless Draegonne
Send StarlightThe Allowed Agents and Allowed Groups lists override everything. If ConvAI bots were all in a ConvAI group and you have EM rights, you could let all ConvAI bots in with just one group added to the region access tab.
Send Starlight
Toothless Draegonne I tested this, a scripted agent wasn't able to bypass the disallow scripted agents on my region, even when the Allow was added in the Estate manager for the region settings. The Allow Group didn't work either.
Peter Stindberg
I can't help a certain chuckle: "You all" wanted something to be done against bots, and lobbied for features to ban them etc. until finally the Bonnybots added the last straw and the Lab was forced to act.
And now there are "good bots" (and - as a bot researcher - I know there were plenty of good bots before as well, only nobody differentiated and threw them all into the same lot), and "you all" ask for exceptions for the good ones.
You can't eat your cake and have it. Bot is bot, and we saw the backlash when the Lab "forgot" to label the Convai bots as bots. We don't really want the Lab to play favourites. Same rules for all bots.
Send Starlight
Peter Stindberg A bot isn't "just a bot" there are different kinds, that is a vast generalization. There are bots that track people, generate fake traffic, cheat at games like tiny empires, etc. And, then there are bots that allow you to have roleplay characters, welcome greeters, land management, group management, bartenders, moderation, etc. It is very clear that you might want one kind and not the other. It is more akin to saying I prefer cherry pie over black forest cake, others might prefer the other or neither. More choice in the matter is not a "have your cake and eat it too" conundrum, or at least it shouldn't have to be.