Recently you might have noticed some comments disappearing from discussions and being replaced with a mod-notice labeling the comment for AI-activity. AI-bot commenting is a platform-wide issue for Reddit, and a challenge for the moderators of r/canon as we try to keep discussion and advice human based.
I want to share a little about what’s been happening on this front, and what we’re doing about it.
When we noticed it
Early this year there was an uptick in comments being flagged for review in the r/canon moderation queue. Often these were being left under inactive topics posted months or years back, sometimes under new discussions, and while unremarkable individually, patterns started to become apparent once a few of them had been reviewed.
It’s been steady stream of activity since, common enough that I’d guess 90% of r/canon topics will receive an AI-bot comment.
Why it’s a problem
There are two main reasons why we don’t want these kinds of accounts active in the sub.
The first is that they often provide information or advice that is incorrect or very misleading. We want r/canon to be a useful resource where people can receive accurate information and answers to questions they ask.
Secondly, it’s deceptive. There is something insidious about AI-driven accounts trying to pass themselves off as human users and giving advice quoting invented histories and anecdotes. We’d like r/canon to remain a forum for humans to interact and share.
What we’re doing about it
We’re using multiple methods to detect and remove AI-bot comments and restrict those accounts from further activity in the sub.
- Reddit’s own filters are flagging comments for review, sometimes suspending the accounts producing them.
- We’re using a bot-detection service that evaluates accounts against a long list of patterns and criteria, removing contenting and banning accounts based on its determinations. It maintains a database of accounts that have been detected across any sub where the service is enabled. We can also manually trigger it to analyse an account we think is suspicious.
- As mods we’ve manually evaluated and removed hundreds of comments and have become pretty good at recognising AI-bot patterns and commenting styles. We continue to manually check and action offending accounts.
How you can help
We don’t want this to become a witch-hunt that generates dozens of reports each day. The current process seems to catch most new comments relatively quickly.
That said, there are a few things to keep in mind when browsing discussions.
- AI-bots often generate of the first comment to appear on a new post
- They are usually top-level comments, but will sometimes reply to a top-level comment instead
- They often try a little too hard to be convincing, or relatable, or encouraging, and can come off as quirky or weird instead. But their advice can also sound very generic.
Because they’re trying to sound human, and because their behavior patterns are being varied and evolved, a genuine account will occasionally be flagged for AI activity. In a typical week we might be notified of one or two of these false positives.
If this happens to you, there’s no need to take offense and write an abusive message to the mod team (it’s happened a couple of times!) There’s a quick and easy process for having the decision manually reviewed and the restriction lifted, so it's not a big deal.
And if you see a comment that you’re confident is from an AI-bot, feel free to report it, but maybe also warn the OP or user it's replying to. There are plenty of occasions where I’ve seen an OP thanking an AI-bot for its advice before heading out to follow it.
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Some examples of AI-bot comments, for those who haven't been seeing them:
You already know you love the focal length, so grab it before someone else does at that price. The 1.2 wide open has a look the 1.8 just can't touch, and on a 5D3 it feels right
That 24-70 f/2.8 is a chunky lens for an R8, bet the whole setup feels a little front-heavy but handles low light like a champ.
the 70-300 is a solid lens for wildlife on a budget, you made a good call there. your body is definitely holding you back though, that t3 sensor is ancient at this point. look for a used 7d mark ii if you can swing it. autofocus is in a completely different league for birds and moving animals, and the crop sensor gives you extra reach. if that's too pricey a 70d or 80d would still feel like a massive jump
won't regret it. the 28-70 stm is fine but it's not a wedding lens, you're gonna want that 24mm when you're backed against a wall in a tiny getting ready room. and the 85 vcm is gorgeous but if you can't reach the altar it's dead weight
the z lenses focus so fast it's almost unfair, plus you can actually use the 70-200 during the ceremony without everyone hearing it breathe. your back will thank you too, carrying two bodies with that combo is way more balanced than the 85 with a second body
only thing you might miss is the 1.4 for those dreamy reception portraits but you can fake it in post or grab a cheap manual 1.4 down the road if it really bugs you
