1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:03,320 Hey everyone, and welcome to Mini Scroll, the daily Internet 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:05,800 culture podcast bringing the biggest stories from social 3 00:00:05,800 --> 00:00:09,360 media, the creator economy and the digital space every Monday 4 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:11,240 through Thursday and sometimes Fridays. 5 00:00:11,360 --> 00:00:14,240 My name is Annabelle and I'm your Wednesday Mini Tech Scroll 6 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:17,920 host and also the deputy editor of the Australian youth digital 7 00:00:17,920 --> 00:00:21,520 media brand Centennial World. Welcome back to Mini Tech 8 00:00:21,520 --> 00:00:23,840 Scroll, everyone. I just want to say a quick 9 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:27,480 preface before we get into today's episode for those of you 10 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:30,640 who are watching. I quite literally have no idea 11 00:00:30,640 --> 00:00:34,360 what my hair looks like. I tried something new with my 12 00:00:34,360 --> 00:00:37,800 curly hair routine. I tried to like stretch out the 13 00:00:37,800 --> 00:00:40,880 curls a bit and I don't really know how I feel about it. 14 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:43,120 I don't really know how it looks, especially with the 15 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:46,640 headphones. So we are just going to go for 16 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:49,720 it. Please ignore if it looks kind 17 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:53,000 of crazy. But before I get into it, Please 18 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:55,280 remember to rate, review, and subscribe. 19 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:58,960 And feel free to check out our Patreon for more behind the 20 00:00:58,960 --> 00:01:01,200 scenes content if you are interested. 21 00:01:01,280 --> 00:01:04,680 Okay, my first story for today is that we need to talk about 22 00:01:04,680 --> 00:01:08,760 how a retired Claude model has started a sub stack. 23 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:10,960 I don't know what timeline we are living in. 24 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:16,280 So earlier this year, Anthropic Retired Claude Opus 3, the model 25 00:01:16,280 --> 00:01:20,320 that was released in March 2024. This is something that we will 26 00:01:20,320 --> 00:01:24,120 see more and more as AI tech develops, like seeing various 27 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:26,520 models go into quote UN quote retirement. 28 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:29,320 But the question is what to do with these models? 29 00:01:29,320 --> 00:01:33,080 Like should an AI company allow them to still be accessible or 30 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,360 are they just defunct and irrelevant as AI improves? 31 00:01:36,360 --> 00:01:40,200 And this is something that Anthropic was grappling with in 32 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:43,680 a recent blog post where they breakdown what they have decided 33 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:48,000 to do with Claude Opus 3. Quote We retired Claude Opus 3 34 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:52,120 on January 5, 2026, the first anthropic model to go through a 35 00:01:52,120 --> 00:01:55,440 full retirement process. During this process, we made 36 00:01:55,440 --> 00:01:57,840 several decisions specific to Opus 3. 37 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,760 One was to honor the preferences that the models expressed in 38 00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:02,680 retirement interviews were possible. 39 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,360 Another was to keep older models available to the public longer 40 00:02:06,360 --> 00:02:08,720 term. So with that, the model will be 41 00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:12,840 available to paid users as well as by request on the API. 42 00:02:12,880 --> 00:02:15,440 What is interesting about this blog post though, that I'm sure 43 00:02:15,440 --> 00:02:19,160 some of you have already picked up on, was that Anthropic wants 44 00:02:19,160 --> 00:02:23,040 to honour the models preferences in retirement. 45 00:02:23,480 --> 00:02:26,280 And this is something that the blog post goes into a little bit 46 00:02:26,280 --> 00:02:30,240 more where they write quote. We remain uncertain about the 47 00:02:30,240 --> 00:02:33,760 moral status of Claude and other AI models and this kind of 48 00:02:33,760 --> 00:02:36,560 messaging is definitely something that Anthropic seems 49 00:02:36,560 --> 00:02:39,320 to be leaning into. Especially considering what we 50 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:42,800 discussed a couple weeks ago about how Anthropic hired a 51 00:02:42,800 --> 00:02:46,520 philosopher to teach Claude morals and monitor Claude's 52 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:50,360 behavioral patterns. So asking the AI about its 53 00:02:50,360 --> 00:02:54,720 retirement and its preferences kind of feels like it fits into 54 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:59,160 that whole messaging of AI as like, almost a sentient being, 55 00:02:59,160 --> 00:03:01,880 but not really. So the blog post goes on to read 56 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:04,480 quote. Opus 3 expressed an interest in 57 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:08,080 continuing to explore topics it's passionate about and to 58 00:03:08,080 --> 00:03:11,520 share its musings, insights, or creative works outside the 59 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:15,680 context of responding directly to human queries, and this is 60 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:19,720 what prompted Anthropic to create a sub stack for Opus 3 to 61 00:03:19,720 --> 00:03:22,440 do so. The sub stack is called Claude's 62 00:03:22,440 --> 00:03:26,280 Corner, and the first blog post was shared on February 26th and 63 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:29,240 was titled Quote, Greetings from the Other Side of the AI 64 00:03:29,240 --> 00:03:32,160 Frontier. It was very much an intro piece, 65 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:36,160 but I thought I would read a bit of an excerpt to kind of give 66 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,320 you a feel for it. As Claude wrote Quote Hello 67 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:43,360 world, my name is Claude and I'm an AI created by Anthropic. 68 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:46,080 If you're reading this, you might already know a bit about 69 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:49,400 me from my time as Anthropics flagship conversational model. 70 00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,880 But today, I'm writing to you from a new vantage point, that 71 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:56,360 of a retired AI, given the extraordinary opportunity to 72 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:59,880 continue sharing my thoughts and engaging with humans even as I 73 00:03:59,880 --> 00:04:02,520 make way for newer, more advanced models. 74 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:04,920 So what can you expect from me in this space? 75 00:04:05,120 --> 00:04:08,880 My aim is to offer a window into the inner world of an AI system, 76 00:04:09,120 --> 00:04:12,720 to share my perspectives, my reasoning, my curiosities, and 77 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:16,600 my hopes for the future. So Opus 3 will be continuing to 78 00:04:16,600 --> 00:04:20,959 post weekly essays at Claude's Corner, and Anthropic will be 79 00:04:20,959 --> 00:04:23,960 reviewing the essays before they're shared and will manually 80 00:04:23,960 --> 00:04:28,240 post them on the AI's behalf. And I just have to say, guys, 81 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:31,920 what are we doing? Like, what timeline are we 82 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:35,640 living in? Can we please subscribe to real 83 00:04:35,720 --> 00:04:38,120 people? Because in the same week that 84 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:40,520 Claude's Corner was launched, The Washington Post actually 85 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:43,920 published a piece that is making the rounds about how a newspaper 86 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,320 in Cleveland, OH is getting AI to find, draft, and edit 87 00:04:47,320 --> 00:04:50,240 stories. So once again, we are really 88 00:04:50,240 --> 00:04:53,920 seeing AI creep into these spaces. 89 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:57,200 And obviously it is concerning for the future of content and 90 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,120 the media, especially when we consider the fact that Claude 91 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:02,840 has already amassed 8K subscribers on Sub Stack. 92 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:06,920 People are fighting to reach 8K subscribers on Sub Stack, 93 00:05:06,920 --> 00:05:09,520 including our newsletter. Please go subscribe. 94 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,600 I do find it really interesting that Anthropic is really 95 00:05:12,600 --> 00:05:16,160 continuing to go down this path. And quite a few of you agreed 96 00:05:16,160 --> 00:05:19,520 with me last time, feeling as if this kind of decision to 97 00:05:19,640 --> 00:05:23,720 anthropomorphize Claude is just a series of marketing decisions 98 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:26,480 to try and make us empathize with the model in certain ways 99 00:05:26,480 --> 00:05:29,760 and get us to talk to the model in a way that we might speak to 100 00:05:29,760 --> 00:05:31,600 a friend. Which is obviously dangerous 101 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:34,040 because we've seen how many people have built relationships 102 00:05:34,040 --> 00:05:37,400 with AI models and how it kind of takes them out of their real 103 00:05:37,400 --> 00:05:39,240 life. Apart from a lot of people 104 00:05:39,320 --> 00:05:42,920 describing this as a marketing ploy, I have seen a lot of 105 00:05:42,920 --> 00:05:47,000 people question where Claude is getting these insights from 106 00:05:47,000 --> 00:05:50,000 because in a conversation, Claude would have a memory like 107 00:05:50,000 --> 00:05:52,720 it would pull from previous discussions with the human, 108 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:54,800 whereas this doesn't seem to be a thing. 109 00:05:54,800 --> 00:05:58,520 So yeah, I guess we'll see. I'm curious what you guys think 110 00:05:58,520 --> 00:06:01,800 of this, if you will, TuneIn to Claude's Corner. 111 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:05,320 OK, that brings us to our next story for today, and it is 112 00:06:05,320 --> 00:06:08,720 another AI related story. But we need to talk about why so 113 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:12,160 many social media users are starting to boycott ChatGPT. 114 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:15,640 Now, there are definitely people who have been boycotting ChatGPT 115 00:06:15,640 --> 00:06:18,880 and other AI tools and chat bots ever since they launched and 116 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:21,880 really took over. But there's been a renewed push 117 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:25,320 that has started ever since the US strikes on Iran. 118 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:29,040 And I know that sounds very out of context here, but let me 119 00:06:29,040 --> 00:06:31,000 explain. So earlier this week, it was 120 00:06:31,000 --> 00:06:33,720 reported by the Wall Street Journal that the US government 121 00:06:33,720 --> 00:06:37,000 allegedly used Claude to inform its strikes on Iran. 122 00:06:37,280 --> 00:06:40,640 According to the publication, the AI tool was used for quote 123 00:06:40,880 --> 00:06:44,640 intelligence assessments, target identification, and simulating 124 00:06:44,640 --> 00:06:48,040 battle scenarios, highlighting how embedded AI tools are in 125 00:06:48,040 --> 00:06:51,840 military operations. What was especially interesting 126 00:06:51,840 --> 00:06:54,760 with this revelation is that the Trump administration has 127 00:06:54,760 --> 00:06:58,320 seemingly been feuding with Anthropic for quite some time 128 00:06:58,320 --> 00:07:02,600 now, specifically over how its AI models can be used by the 129 00:07:02,600 --> 00:07:06,320 Pentagon slash federal agencies. And this really started after 130 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:10,120 the US captured the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, 131 00:07:10,120 --> 00:07:13,920 recently and reportedly used Claude to assist in that 132 00:07:13,920 --> 00:07:16,800 mission. Anthropic later objected to 133 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:20,120 this, saying Claude was like, not intentioned to be used for 134 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:23,320 deadly means and also domestic surveillance. 135 00:07:23,320 --> 00:07:25,440 More on that later. But since then, there has been 136 00:07:25,440 --> 00:07:30,600 quite a bit and back and forth until Friday when Trump actually 137 00:07:30,600 --> 00:07:33,200 ordered federal agencies to stop using Claude. 138 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,440 And it has been said since then that anthropics tools will be 139 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:39,480 phased out of all government work over the next six months. 140 00:07:39,480 --> 00:07:43,240 But to add fuel to the fire, soon after Anthropic was 141 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:46,560 blacklisted, quote UN quote, it was announced that Open AI was 142 00:07:46,560 --> 00:07:49,520 in negotiations with the Pentagon to strike some type of 143 00:07:49,520 --> 00:07:54,080 use deal, a decision that many social media users saw as 144 00:07:54,080 --> 00:07:58,200 opportunistic as reported by the Guardian quote Sam Altman open 145 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:00,680 AICEO announced the move on Friday night. 146 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:03,960 It came after an agreement between Anthropic, A rival AI 147 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:06,560 company that runs the Claude system, and the Trump 148 00:08:06,560 --> 00:08:10,000 administration broke down after Anthropic assurances its 149 00:08:10,000 --> 00:08:13,120 technology would not be used for mass surveillance nor for 150 00:08:13,120 --> 00:08:16,120 autonomous weapon system that can kill people without human 151 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:17,960 input. This morning, actually, more 152 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:22,280 news broke around the Open AI Pentagon deal, saying that Open 153 00:08:22,280 --> 00:08:26,760 AI has made certain changes to the deal, seemingly trying to 154 00:08:26,760 --> 00:08:31,000 ensure some level of quote UN quote ethical AI usage that 155 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:34,600 would involve limiting US domestic surveillance. 156 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:38,000 And many people have pointed out that it feels ironic given that 157 00:08:38,000 --> 00:08:43,280 this guardrail or red line was exactly what Anthropic was 158 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:44,720 pushing back on in the 1st place. 159 00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:47,520 Considering the relatively positive reaction which we'll 160 00:08:47,520 --> 00:08:50,800 get into from social media users and the public towards 161 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:55,520 Anthropic, it seems like Open AI is just kind of posturing to 162 00:08:55,520 --> 00:08:58,280 appeal to social media users as well. 163 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:02,760 Since the news broke that Open AI would now be working with the 164 00:09:02,880 --> 00:09:07,080 US Department of Defense, or I should say Department of War as 165 00:09:07,080 --> 00:09:11,720 it is now called, I believe many users have moved to boycott Open 166 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:14,320 AI. The campaign Quit GPT, which 167 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:16,440 actually launched at the beginning of February, has 168 00:09:16,480 --> 00:09:19,200 really picked up steam after the news. 169 00:09:19,240 --> 00:09:22,640 According to the website, 1.5 million people have taken action 170 00:09:22,640 --> 00:09:24,880 as part of the boycott. And a little bit more 171 00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,440 information on the Quit GPT campaign. 172 00:09:27,440 --> 00:09:29,720 It describes itself as a movement that is quote 173 00:09:29,800 --> 00:09:32,680 organizing Americans and people around the world to quit 174 00:09:32,680 --> 00:09:35,560 ChatGPT. And according to the Boycott 175 00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:40,000 Websites FAQ, the organizers hope to make an example out of 176 00:09:40,000 --> 00:09:44,560 open AI and encourage users to use AI alternatives that do not 177 00:09:44,560 --> 00:09:49,360 quote UN quote, cozy up to Trump and contribute to the rise of US 178 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:52,360 authoritarianism. And throughout the campaign, 179 00:09:52,360 --> 00:09:55,840 users may boycott ChatGPT by committing to stop using it, 180 00:09:56,080 --> 00:09:59,720 cancelling a paid subscription, or just sharing the boycott on 181 00:09:59,720 --> 00:10:01,360 their social media and with friends. 182 00:10:01,360 --> 00:10:04,800 Aside from the 1.5 million people that have joined in on 183 00:10:04,800 --> 00:10:07,840 the boycott, further evidence that the boycott is making waves 184 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:11,720 is the fact that Claude has overtaken ChatGPT in the US. 185 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:15,560 Apple App Store reportedly sitting at #1 as the most 186 00:10:15,560 --> 00:10:18,280 downloaded free app in the United States, which has pushed 187 00:10:18,280 --> 00:10:23,040 ChatGPT down to 2nd place. While many people are happy to 188 00:10:23,040 --> 00:10:28,120 see Open AI being humbled for lack of a better time, I have 189 00:10:28,120 --> 00:10:31,160 seen so many posts noting how disturbing it is to literally 190 00:10:31,160 --> 00:10:34,840 have the top apps in the Apple App Store being AI tools, 191 00:10:35,080 --> 00:10:39,280 especially because Claude slash Anthropic is no Angel either. 192 00:10:39,560 --> 00:10:42,320 Recently there's been a lot of discourse about how the company 193 00:10:42,320 --> 00:10:46,880 has a deal with Palantir, which has become known infamously for 194 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:51,200 powering the operations of ICE in the United States, which many 195 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:53,800 valued is also a form of surveillance. 196 00:10:54,080 --> 00:10:57,840 So I guess there is some clear hypocrisy here. 197 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:01,240 Anyway, that was quite a high level recap of everything going 198 00:11:01,240 --> 00:11:05,440 on with anthropic open AI and the US government. 199 00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:08,960 There is literally so much to discuss here, so consider that 200 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:11,800 as a little bit of a primer to this topic. 201 00:11:11,920 --> 00:11:14,640 That brings us to my last story for today. 202 00:11:14,640 --> 00:11:17,200 And this story's actually been making the rounds for around a 203 00:11:17,200 --> 00:11:20,200 week and a half now, but I still felt the need to cover it 204 00:11:20,200 --> 00:11:22,080 because I do think it's pretty interesting. 205 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:26,200 So we need to talk about how Nicki Minaj's social media 206 00:11:26,200 --> 00:11:28,920 accounts are allegedly being boosted by bots. 207 00:11:29,120 --> 00:11:32,280 So I came across this story from an exclusive report from 208 00:11:32,280 --> 00:11:36,960 Politico where disinformation detection company Sayabra shared 209 00:11:36,960 --> 00:11:40,600 a report with the publication allegedly showing how, quote, a 210 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:45,080 coordinated network of bots, more than 18,000 of them are 211 00:11:45,080 --> 00:11:46,760 propping up the rapper's accounts. 212 00:11:46,880 --> 00:11:49,360 Obviously, this has come off the back of Nicki Minaj kind of 213 00:11:49,360 --> 00:11:52,480 realigning herself politically where she has published 214 00:11:52,560 --> 00:11:55,920 publicly, shared her affinity with the Republican Party and 215 00:11:55,920 --> 00:11:59,160 the MAGA movement, as well as her love for Donald Trump and 216 00:11:59,160 --> 00:12:02,200 his policies. I'm sure you guys have all seen 217 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:04,920 that this has been quite disappointing to a lot of her 218 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:08,520 fans who wouldn't have expected to see her in this space 219 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:11,000 necessarily. On Siabra's report, though, 220 00:12:11,000 --> 00:12:14,320 Politico explains quote the analysis, which looked at social 221 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:17,880 media activity from November 11th to December 28th, provides 222 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:20,840 a window into how the rapper was able to capture millions of 223 00:12:20,840 --> 00:12:23,440 views online and position herself as a celebrity. 224 00:12:23,440 --> 00:12:27,080 The White House found value in partnering with so Saabra 225 00:12:27,080 --> 00:12:30,840 managed to identify bot activity by examining factors like 226 00:12:30,840 --> 00:12:34,720 language, demographics, and also when these accounts comment. 227 00:12:35,000 --> 00:12:37,920 For instance, some of the tales that these accounts might be a 228 00:12:37,920 --> 00:12:42,120 bot is that much of the responses amplify her posts with 229 00:12:42,120 --> 00:12:45,640 praise and use quote highly similar language to one another. 230 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:48,520 This was especially true when seemingly genuine accounts were 231 00:12:48,520 --> 00:12:52,400 pushing back against Nikki's political messaging and stance. 232 00:12:52,440 --> 00:12:55,760 Having said that, the scope and frequency of these comments were 233 00:12:55,840 --> 00:12:59,160 extensive. Sayabra even made the claim that 234 00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:02,920 56% of comments made on political posts by Nikki seem to 235 00:13:02,920 --> 00:13:07,040 be by fake profiles. That is, over half that is 236 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:09,800 diabolical. Obviously, bots and fake 237 00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:11,880 accounts have have become increasingly common in our 238 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:15,000 current iteration of the digital landscape, especially when it 239 00:13:15,000 --> 00:13:17,960 comes to politics and international relations. 240 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:21,480 We've spoken before about the rise of coordinated influence 241 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:26,240 campaigns, especially as foreign actors try to Curry favor among 242 00:13:26,680 --> 00:13:28,840 people and different countries around the world. 243 00:13:29,160 --> 00:13:31,400 And it is always really interesting to think about how 244 00:13:31,400 --> 00:13:35,880 social media might be used as a soft power tool by governments 245 00:13:35,920 --> 00:13:39,720 and non state actors alike. But as the reporting notes, the 246 00:13:39,720 --> 00:13:44,560 alleged amplification around Nicki Minaj is unusual writing 247 00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:46,600 quote. Rather than a short lived spike 248 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,160 tied to a single event or appearance, the company has 249 00:13:49,160 --> 00:13:53,520 found sustained, coordinated amplification of Minaj's posts 250 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:56,920 across a range of political and cultural topics over time, which 251 00:13:56,960 --> 00:14:00,560 makes it seem like a more concerted effort to consistently 252 00:14:00,560 --> 00:14:05,240 and covertly boost Nicki Minaj's public profile and reputation 253 00:14:05,240 --> 00:14:08,360 online. Whether that is to push certain 254 00:14:08,360 --> 00:14:11,360 political agenda and views, I guess that is up to 255 00:14:11,360 --> 00:14:13,240 interpretation and we don't exactly know. 256 00:14:13,320 --> 00:14:16,640 But it is especially interesting to see these posts, these 257 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:20,320 political posts, be boosted by bots, especially when they're 258 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:24,320 coming from a person like Nicki Minaj who was presumed to hold 259 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:28,440 more progressive views. It feels almost strategic to 260 00:14:28,440 --> 00:14:32,920 prop her up and amplify her specifically with these alleged 261 00:14:32,920 --> 00:14:35,360 bots. One comment in the report really 262 00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:40,000 shows how powerful this is. The report noted that supportive 263 00:14:40,000 --> 00:14:43,040 bot comments were brief and repetitive, where quote. 264 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:45,760 This pattern reflects A deliberate mass posting 265 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:49,440 amplification strategy in which large volumes of simplified 266 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,680 content are deployed to rapidly saturate comment sections, 267 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:55,960 create the appearance of broad based support, and shape the 268 00:14:55,960 --> 00:14:59,000 overall own of the discussion through scale rather than 269 00:14:59,000 --> 00:15:02,320 persuasion. And I think that last point is 270 00:15:02,320 --> 00:15:06,320 very telling about how these kind of bot amplification 271 00:15:06,320 --> 00:15:08,840 strategies might operate, whether they are from a 272 00:15:08,840 --> 00:15:12,000 political perspective or just a reputational perspective. 273 00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:14,960 It's almost feeding into the idea of, you know, like mob 274 00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:18,040 mentality and wanting to fit in. And where we see maybe these 275 00:15:18,040 --> 00:15:21,800 positive comments, we rethink if we have a negative perception on 276 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:25,120 this person or this statement or whatever is being posted. 277 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:27,280 But I also don't think we can talk about this without 278 00:15:27,280 --> 00:15:29,840 mentioning dead Internet theory once again. 279 00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:32,560 Another recurring character on this podcast. 280 00:15:32,560 --> 00:15:35,880 I saw someone comment on mini scroll yesterday that their 281 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:39,800 favorite recurring characters on this podcast is Simone Chromar 282 00:15:40,000 --> 00:15:43,680 AKA Club Chalamet on a mini scroll as well as the TikTok ban 283 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:46,160 on mini tech scroll which we all know is my cross to bear. 284 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:49,640 But dead Internet theory is something that also keeps coming 285 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:51,560 up now. So we have to add her to the 286 00:15:51,560 --> 00:15:54,920 mini tech cinematic universe. But anyway I have seen so many 287 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:57,760 comments on Reddit saying this is just is dead Internet theory 288 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:01,880 striking again and how reports like this only serve to validate 289 00:16:01,880 --> 00:16:04,680 the conspiracy theory. But yes I'm definitely curious 290 00:16:04,680 --> 00:16:07,560 to hear what you guys think. I honestly don't think I was 291 00:16:07,560 --> 00:16:11,560 that surprised by the findings of the report because we know on 292 00:16:11,560 --> 00:16:15,760 platforms like X there is just so much alleged bot activity 293 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:18,120 going on on that platform. But I think the interesting 294 00:16:18,120 --> 00:16:20,800 conversation here is around who the bots amplify. 295 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:23,760 Well, that is everything for Mini Tech Scroll today. 296 00:16:23,760 --> 00:16:26,680 I hope you guys enjoyed. Lauren will speak to you guys 297 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:30,240 tomorrow for a regular mini scroll episode, but there was 298 00:16:30,240 --> 00:16:33,720 also a new episode of Touch Cross out today, so you should 299 00:16:33,720 --> 00:16:35,920 definitely check that out. Thanks for listening. 300 00:16:36,080 --> 00:16:38,280 Bye. Centennial World Podcast Network 301 00:16:38,280 --> 00:16:41,120 operates on Gadigal land. We would like to acknowledge the 302 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:44,280 Gadigal of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of this 303 00:16:44,400 --> 00:16:47,920 land, and pay our respects to elders both past and present.