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I don't quite understand the issue of "back-dating" or hijacking accounts. How is this being done exactly? I came away from this article wondering if I was miss

I don't quite understand the issue of "back-dating" or hijacking accounts. How is this being done exactly? I came away from this article wondering if I was missing something.

Evidlo 2y ago
The last section mentions that the PhysicsForums admins are experimenting with LLM-generated responses, so I think the site owners are responsible. > We reached out to Greg Bernhardt asking for comment on LLM usage in PhysicsForums, and he replied: > "We have many AI tests in the works to add value to the community. I sent out a 2024 feedback form to members a few weeks ago and many members don’t want AI features. We’ll either work with members to dramatically improve them or end up removing them. We experimented with AI answers from test accounts last year but they were not meeting quality standards. If you find any test accounts we missed, please let me know. My documentation was not the best." Why they would recycle old human accounts as AI "test accounts", I have no idea.
- emmelaich 2y ago
  Looks like Greg now does SEO for Shopify. That fits I guess. https://gregbernhardt.com/ https://gregbernhardt.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbernhardt https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbernhardt https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/author/greg-bernhardt/ https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/author/greg-bernhardt... https://x.com/GregBernhardt4/status/1875287174205374533 https://x.com/GregBernhardt4/status/1875287174205374533 > "The dead internet theory is coming to fruition. This is a large reason I'm starting to cut back on social media and take back my time."
  - Gooblebrai 2y ago
    Oh, I thought he would be a physicist
  - ploxiln 2y ago
    Wow, so ironic.
Terr_ 2y ago
> How is this being done exactly? Presumably it's being done by the site-owner, whether that means new-management or original management getting desperate/greedy.
- EA-3167 2y ago
  Oh that's so disappointing to hear about PhysicsForums. Thanks for the answer to you, and the others who replied.
roywiggins 2y ago
Whoever runs the site/database is just inserting rows with fake datestamps under existing (presumably abandoned) account names.
- aaron_m04 2y ago
  How could anyone possibly think it'd be OK to impersonate real humans?
  - jeremyjh 2y ago
    They don't give a fuck if its "ok". They are just trying to scrape up some additional ad revenue, like 99% of the rest of the internet.
    - simplicio 2y ago
      I don't really get the revenue angle though. The AI posts don't seem to be trying to drive traffic to ads or anything. I really don't understand the point of auto-generating a bunch of AI gibberish under the name of old users on ones own site?
      - roywiggins 2y ago
        A misguided attempt at SEO?
deleted 2y ago
[deleted]
guynamedloren 2y ago
Wondering the same. I couldn't make it through the article. Fascinating discovery, but poorly written and difficult to navigate the author's thoughts. The interstitial quotes were particularly disorienting.

I don't quite understand the issue of "back-dating" or hijacking accounts. How is this being done exactly? I came away from this article wondering if I was missing something.

Evidlo 2y ago

The last section mentions that the PhysicsForums admins are experimenting with LLM-generated responses, so I think the site owners are responsible. > We reached out to Greg Bernhardt asking for comment on LLM usage in PhysicsForums, and he replied: > "We have many AI tests in the works to add value to the community. I sent out a 2024 feedback form to members a few weeks ago and many members don’t want AI features. We’ll either work with members to dramatically improve them or end up removing them. We experimented with AI answers from test accounts last year but they were not meeting quality standards. If you find any test accounts we missed, please let me know. My documentation was not the best." Why they would recycle old human accounts as AI "test accounts", I have no idea.

emmelaich 2y ago
Looks like Greg now does SEO for Shopify. That fits I guess. https://gregbernhardt.com/ https://gregbernhardt.com/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbernhardt https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregbernhardt https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/author/greg-bernhardt/ https://www.physicsforums.com/insights/author/greg-bernhardt... https://x.com/GregBernhardt4/status/1875287174205374533 https://x.com/GregBernhardt4/status/1875287174205374533 > "The dead internet theory is coming to fruition. This is a large reason I'm starting to cut back on social media and take back my time."
- Gooblebrai 2y ago
  Oh, I thought he would be a physicist
- ploxiln 2y ago
  Wow, so ironic.

Terr_ 2y ago

> How is this being done exactly? Presumably it's being done by the site-owner, whether that means new-management or original management getting desperate/greedy.

EA-3167 2y ago
Oh that's so disappointing to hear about PhysicsForums. Thanks for the answer to you, and the others who replied.

roywiggins 2y ago

Whoever runs the site/database is just inserting rows with fake datestamps under existing (presumably abandoned) account names.

aaron_m04 2y ago
How could anyone possibly think it'd be OK to impersonate real humans?
- jeremyjh 2y ago
  They don't give a fuck if its "ok". They are just trying to scrape up some additional ad revenue, like 99% of the rest of the internet.
  - simplicio 2y ago
    I don't really get the revenue angle though. The AI posts don't seem to be trying to drive traffic to ads or anything. I really don't understand the point of auto-generating a bunch of AI gibberish under the name of old users on ones own site?
    - roywiggins 2y ago
      A misguided attempt at SEO?

deleted 2y ago

[deleted]

guynamedloren 2y ago

Wondering the same. I couldn't make it through the article. Fascinating discovery, but poorly written and difficult to navigate the author's thoughts. The interstitial quotes were particularly disorienting.