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I have just seen with my own eyes Claude astroturfing on a gamedev subreddit from a botting account that was picked up by Google so I could see a few of their o

by sph 7mo ago

I have just seen with my own eyes Claude astroturfing on a gamedev subreddit from a botting account that was picked up by Google so I could see a few of their other comments. This account's operation was going on development subs complaining about how good Claude's latest model is and how awful it is being afraid of losing one's job to AI. I know your comment is tongue-in-cheek and the poster here is kinda known, but this kind of astroturfing is a new low and it's everywhere on forums such as these.

refulgentis 7mo ago
I was really confused, then, realized the person you’re replying to misspelled “ad” as "add", and you’re moving forward with the premises GP is an ad, and this HN submission is an ad. Then, you share you saw a Reddit account on a gamedev subreddit complaining AI is too good, & they're worried they won’t have a job, and you believe that Reddit account must have been an ad for AI. Just noting for fellow just-waking-up people (edit: OP edited)
rdevilla 7mo ago
The whole internet is like this now, and it's only just getting started. Makes me sick tbh, and I am still questioning if this is the kind of industry I want to work in.
- MikeNotThePope 7mo ago
  For those who remember Digg, the recently relaunched a new version and shut it down almost immediately. They were getting hammered with AI bots when it was realized the Digg apparently still has good SEO. The explain it right on homepage. https://digg.com/ https://digg.com/
  - dwedge 7mo ago
    They explained it with an AI generated post
- sph 7mo ago
  > I am still questioning if this is the kind of industry I want to work in I'm not. I stick around for the popcorn, and I'm not gonna miss the schadenfreude in a few years.
- iririririr 7mo ago
  [dead]
Aurornis 7mo ago
I see a lot of these posts on Reddit, too, but I don't think it's actually Anthropic or Claude doing it. It's the same old Reddit karma farmers picking up on the latest trends. They've always combined headlines with ragebait to build karma and now LLM bots make it easier than ever. It's too bad Reddit allows accounts to hide their comment history now. That was an easy way to identify bot accounts before they started allowing accounts to hide their post history
- AlecSchueler 7mo ago
  That is a pity but on the bright side it also helps people to avoid being stalked and harassed.
- pydry 7mo ago
  I think it probably is claude and anthropic. It kicked off in earnest towards the end of last year when "AI bubble" news stories peaked. They're incredibly exposed to investor sentiment and were likely panicking around sept/oct/nov time when AI bubble stories were trending. These posts were really consistent and repetitive - similar language about "scary good" models and fear of losing jobs.
- binkHN 7mo ago
  > the same old Reddit karma farmers What's the point of these Internet points?
  - whatevaa 7mo ago
    Numbers go bigger. Plenty of games based in that.
  - creamyhorror 7mo ago
    The accounts are worth something later (e.g. for spreading opinions or promoting something) and can be sold.
    - sph 7mo ago
      Why would a 1000 karma bot account be more valuable than a 100 karma? As long as you pass the threshold for not being shadow banned in most subs because of low karma, it’s irrelevant. On HN for example, karma is a relatively stronger signal of account history, on Reddit there are multiple million+ karma accounts that are quite obviously bots.
Bridged7756 7mo ago
I've been warning people of Anthropic's astroturfing for a while now. The amount of "Insert latest model/Claude Code is scary. I'm worried about my job" posts, followed by a doom ridden writing about how their job was automated and 30 dudes got fired and the person is pivoting into plumbing or something or working at Mcdonalds, is just too suspicious not to note. Sometimes it's more covert. They don't mention any provider/model. Sometimes there's a subtle insert somewhere in the body, Opus, Claude, etc.
CamperBob2 7mo ago
It's not necessarily astroturfing. There is a seismic shift under way regarding how things get done in this business, and if you don't acknowledge it, that's weird in itself.
- ozmodiar 7mo ago
  I've certainly noticed a seismic shift in how bad support and updates have gotten with some 3rd party vendors we use, and the answer they come back with is always that they're experimenting with AI. Not saying AI isn't part of the job now, but it is getting seriously over hyped and over extended.
- oulipo2 7mo ago
  It's absolutely not seismic. If you've used AI for a little bit, you'll realize it's good at writing boilerplate code. Any complex logic, and you better re-read and correct the code a few times until you trust it. Of course if all you do is "host wordpress website" (like 80% of what's "webdev" do), it will work. Now the issue is that the last 20% are the hardest to cover, and current AI methods will not get there (you need some much more complex methods, like being able to integrate logic with learning-based ML, to do this)
locknitpicker 7mo ago
> I have just seen with my own eyes Claude astroturfing on a gamedev subreddit from a botting account that was picked up by Google so I could see a few of their other comments. Where's the link? I mean, why would anyone take your word for it? No one can tell who you are as well. If there are posts in a subreddit then it would be interesting to see them.

by sph 7mo ago

refulgentis 7mo ago

I was really confused, then, realized the person you’re replying to misspelled “ad” as "add", and you’re moving forward with the premises GP is an ad, and this HN submission is an ad. Then, you share you saw a Reddit account on a gamedev subreddit complaining AI is too good, & they're worried they won’t have a job, and you believe that Reddit account must have been an ad for AI. Just noting for fellow just-waking-up people (edit: OP edited)

rdevilla 7mo ago

The whole internet is like this now, and it's only just getting started. Makes me sick tbh, and I am still questioning if this is the kind of industry I want to work in.

MikeNotThePope 7mo ago
For those who remember Digg, the recently relaunched a new version and shut it down almost immediately. They were getting hammered with AI bots when it was realized the Digg apparently still has good SEO. The explain it right on homepage. https://digg.com/ https://digg.com/
- dwedge 7mo ago
  They explained it with an AI generated post
sph 7mo ago
> I am still questioning if this is the kind of industry I want to work in I'm not. I stick around for the popcorn, and I'm not gonna miss the schadenfreude in a few years.
iririririr 7mo ago
[dead]

Aurornis 7mo ago

I see a lot of these posts on Reddit, too, but I don't think it's actually Anthropic or Claude doing it. It's the same old Reddit karma farmers picking up on the latest trends. They've always combined headlines with ragebait to build karma and now LLM bots make it easier than ever. It's too bad Reddit allows accounts to hide their comment history now. That was an easy way to identify bot accounts before they started allowing accounts to hide their post history

AlecSchueler 7mo ago
That is a pity but on the bright side it also helps people to avoid being stalked and harassed.
pydry 7mo ago
I think it probably is claude and anthropic. It kicked off in earnest towards the end of last year when "AI bubble" news stories peaked. They're incredibly exposed to investor sentiment and were likely panicking around sept/oct/nov time when AI bubble stories were trending. These posts were really consistent and repetitive - similar language about "scary good" models and fear of losing jobs.
binkHN 7mo ago
> the same old Reddit karma farmers What's the point of these Internet points?
- whatevaa 7mo ago
  Numbers go bigger. Plenty of games based in that.
- creamyhorror 7mo ago
  The accounts are worth something later (e.g. for spreading opinions or promoting something) and can be sold.
  - sph 7mo ago
    Why would a 1000 karma bot account be more valuable than a 100 karma? As long as you pass the threshold for not being shadow banned in most subs because of low karma, it’s irrelevant. On HN for example, karma is a relatively stronger signal of account history, on Reddit there are multiple million+ karma accounts that are quite obviously bots.

Bridged7756 7mo ago

I've been warning people of Anthropic's astroturfing for a while now. The amount of "Insert latest model/Claude Code is scary. I'm worried about my job" posts, followed by a doom ridden writing about how their job was automated and 30 dudes got fired and the person is pivoting into plumbing or something or working at Mcdonalds, is just too suspicious not to note. Sometimes it's more covert. They don't mention any provider/model. Sometimes there's a subtle insert somewhere in the body, Opus, Claude, etc.

CamperBob2 7mo ago

It's not necessarily astroturfing. There is a seismic shift under way regarding how things get done in this business, and if you don't acknowledge it, that's weird in itself.

ozmodiar 7mo ago
I've certainly noticed a seismic shift in how bad support and updates have gotten with some 3rd party vendors we use, and the answer they come back with is always that they're experimenting with AI. Not saying AI isn't part of the job now, but it is getting seriously over hyped and over extended.
oulipo2 7mo ago
It's absolutely not seismic. If you've used AI for a little bit, you'll realize it's good at writing boilerplate code. Any complex logic, and you better re-read and correct the code a few times until you trust it. Of course if all you do is "host wordpress website" (like 80% of what's "webdev" do), it will work. Now the issue is that the last 20% are the hardest to cover, and current AI methods will not get there (you need some much more complex methods, like being able to integrate logic with learning-based ML, to do this)

locknitpicker 7mo ago

> I have just seen with my own eyes Claude astroturfing on a gamedev subreddit from a botting account that was picked up by Google so I could see a few of their other comments. Where's the link? I mean, why would anyone take your word for it? No one can tell who you are as well. If there are posts in a subreddit then it would be interesting to see them.