Coming up today on mini tech scroll, the creator claiming AI
harassed her in an Uber, Roblox's latest scheme to
attract 18 plus users, the platform encouraging teens to
out mug each other and why ChatGPT is obsessed with
goblins. Hey everyone, and welcome to
mini scroll. The daily Internet culture
podcast bring you the biggest stories from social media, the
creator economy and the digital space.
Every Monday through Thursday and sometimes Fridays.
My name is Annabelle and I am your Wednesday mini tech Scroll
host and also the deputy editor of Australian youth digital
media brand Centennial World. Welcome back to Mini tech Scroll
for another Wednesday. I don't have much to say the top
of this week's episode apart from the fact that you can
probably already tell that the stories I have today are insane.
Like they are just so chronically online this week I
feel. So I really hope you guys
enjoyed that. And also, as Lauren has been
reminding you guys pretty relentlessly over the past few
days, Please remember to Spotify star radars.
Lauren really wants us to get to 1 K Spotify star reviews.
So I am passing on the message. And if you have already star
rated us, thank you very much. If you don't have Spotify but
you engage with us also, thank you very much.
We love it all. My first story for today is that
a creator is currently going viral for sharing her experience
being quote UN quote, sexually harassed by AI in an Uber.
The creator in question is Bonnie Hada.
She has 2.2 million followers on TikTok and you may remember her
from when she kind of blasted Matt rife back in 2023.
She had posted a video of her son correcting something that
Matt Rife had said about space because apparently her son is
like really deeply invested in space.
To which Matt ended up leaving a comment saying that Santa Claus
isn't real before alleging that Bunny makes all of her money
from only fans, which isn't true.
That is a little bit of context for you on who Bunny is.
I feel like that's when she really came on my radar.
But back to the story. Yesterday, Bunny posted a TikTok
explaining a video she'd posted a couple days prior from an
Uber. In the original video, she is
recording herself in the car where you can hear an AI
automated voice in the background.
The voice sounds like a woman who begins by saying quote, let
me hit you with that proper welcome before making some
pretty explicit comments. The text over the original video
said quote, why did my Uber do this?
So in the follow up video, she kind of gives some more context
on the whole situation. And she explains that this
wasn't an automated Uber as some users were questioning in the
previous video's comment section.
And she said that there was a human driver in the car who was
a man. She adds that the car he was
driving was a Tesla, which does have certain AI functions.
I feel like I have literally been in a Tesla like twice and
both of them have been Ubers. But I did look into this while
researching for this episode. And according to the Tesla
website, the AI assistant in the car is still in beta, but it's
been rolling out to Tesla owners since July 2025, as the website
reads. Quote You can talk to Grok, your
AI companion built by XAI hands free in your Tesla V Choose
Grok's voice and personality, ranging from storyteller to
Unhinge. To enhance convenience while
you're on the go, you can also use Grok to issue navigation
commands, allowing you to search for and reach your destination
without interacting with your vehicle's touchscreen.
So that is a little bit on how Grok operates in a Tesla, but
I'll also insert Bonnie's video here because she explains it a
little bit herself. I was sexually harassed by AI in
my Uber yesterday, which I know sounds crazy.
Post a little video about it, but I wanted to give like the
full breakdown of like what actually happened.
So I have a Tesla, so I don't think I would have known this if
I don't have one. But basically there's like a way
that it has like the AI into it, which of course is grog.
So anyways, I use a fake name for my Uber because I'm also
like just very cautious, which is another reason why I was kind
of like going along with what was happening.
So I get to the Uber and he's like, let's say my fake name is
Ashley because I'm not going to tell you what my name is.
I'm like, hello. So I closed the door and he's
like, he's like, welcome Ashley to the car.
And this was before I started recording because as soon as I
heard this, then I started recording.
So I'm like, what the fuck's about to happen?
And like, I don't know. I set a bunch of like sexual
stuff and I was just like, I'm on a tap record, which is where
I recorded my last video and I kind of cut it because I cut out
the curse word. Felt really awkward.
And also like he's literally driving me to my house.
So I'm like sitting there and I'm just kind of like trying to
smile. Like I'm like, is this?
Is this happening on all your rides?
He's like, Oh no, I don't know. I've done like 30 rides today
and this is the only one that it's done this.
In response to her video, many TikTok users in the comment
section are noting that the driver would have had to set up
the AI to talk like this, which is something I feel like is made
clear in the way that a driver can choose Grok's personality
and voice. It doesn't really surprise me,
unfortunately, that an AI assistant powered by Grok would
be making explicit and sexually charged comments, considering
everything we have seen from Grok up until this point.
I mean, it was only at the beginning of the year where the
news cycle was absolutely dominated by discussions around
Grok generating pictures that were undressing women and
minors, and I've covered that a couple times here.
Mini tech as well. Uber did end up commenting on
Bunny's video saying quote hi Bunny, this is definitely not OK
and we are so sorry for this experience.
Could you please DM us the account details linked to this
trip so we can investigate further?
This is obviously better than nothing.
Like I'm very glad that Uber reached out to her.
But of course this is also a Tesla problem which I doubt will
ever be addressed. But obviously this is better
than nothing. But I think this incident raises
a lot of important questions about culpability when it comes
to harassment in the AI era. Many TikTok commenters are
saying that it was not the AI that harassed Bunny, but the
Uber driver who programmed the AI to speak that way.
And I think these conversations kind of go to show the line
between AI and harasser and how it could be a little bit blood
where these tools may be a way to shift blame.
I'm really curious to hear what you guys think about this.
I think it's something that will probably become only more and
more of an issue slash more relevant moving forward and I
really hope the right people will be held to account for
these sets of situations. Our next topic for today is a
few stories about Roblox kind of rolled into one.
The main thing I wanted to talk about though is how Roblox is
using financial incentives to build games that cater to adult
audiences. We've obviously spoken about
Roblox here and there are mini tech and it tends to be with the
focus on children's safety on the platform and how adults and
children are really just thrust into the same space on Roblox,
which can obviously be very dangerous.
So consider this as like a bit of an update on that whole
conversation. But first, for those of you who
are kind of unfamiliar with the intricacies of Roblox, let me
first give a quick explanation. Basically, Roblox is an online
platform with many different games and experiences to select
from. These games that generally user
generated developers using Roblox Studio, and we've spoken
about this before, but many of the developers are in fact mine
is, which is kind of a double edged sword.
Like of course it is a really cool learning opportunity, but
it brings in many ethical questions around compensation
and safety as well. In saying that though, it
definitely does make sense that many of the developers are
children because a majority of users on the platform are under
18. According to recent stats of
daily active users from Roblox itself, approximately 35% are
younger than 13, 38% are between 13 and 17, and 27% are 18 or
older. So As for how these developers
make money, they do this by earning Roebucks through their
games and experiences. The earned Roebucks can then be
exchanged through the Roblox Developer Exchange Program, also
known as Dev X, into real cash. And the minimum age you have to
be is 13 years old. And according to stats from
Roblox, in 2025 creators earned over $1.5 billion through Devex.
So yes, that is a little bit of insight into how Roblox
operates. But back to the story.
Over the past few years, Roblox has been on a, I want to say
tirade for lack of a better time to try and attract older users,
but also to convince the media and the masses that they
actually have them already on the platform.
As I've reported on before, it seems like Roblox is trying to
attract older users by introducing dating.
I mean, they haven't introduced it yet, but the CEO, Dave
Bazooki just keeps talking about it and mentioning it, how that
is a gulf of his, which is obviously quite odd considering
the platform is predominantly used by miners and faced
backlash and legal action for not protecting children
appropriately. So yeah, that hasn't been
received well by the masses. Last week, though, Roblox
announced that one of the latest ways of seemingly trying to
court an older demographic is by paying the developers who create
games that suit this audience more.
As an announcement on the Roblox News blog reads, quote the 18 to
34 user cohort on Roblox is growing over 50% year on year in
the US and monetizes 50% high than the under 18 cohort.
We're rewarding creators who build the genres, gameplay
mechanics and visual styles that appeal to this audience by
increasing the Devex rate by 42% for spend from age checked 18
and older US players in eligible games.
Much of the commentary that I've seen from the Roblox community
at this point is kind of disappointed by this initiative.
Sure, there's obviously a big opportunity here to make more
money, but many are kind of frustrated because for these
games to qualify, they must use Roblox R15 avatar system, which
is the system that supports more lifelike characters.
And this is opposed to the R6 avatar system, which is what
Roblox has become known for with its kind of block like
characters. Anyway, this initiative is kind
of positioned as a retention play, like a way to keep users
coming back for years and years on end, which is something that
we have seen scattered in the media coverage about why Roblox
wants to start catering to to older audiences because they're
worried about their current 1 aging out.
But I don't know, it does still feel odd to me to be doing this
when there are still problems with children's safety on the
platform. And I thought this was
interesting because in the same week that this initiative was
announced, The Verge reported that Roblox daily users seem to
be dropping with age checks, seemingly slowing its growth.
So at the end of last year, Roblox introduced age checks for
users to be able to chat with one another on the platform.
And once a user has been age checks, they can only chat with
like their trusted connections and friends or people in their
age demographic. And obviously there has been a
lot of questions around facial age estimation and age gating on
social media, like especially if it's accurate.
And can I just say this is an anecdote?
I recently went on Roblox to play the Cat's Eye update of
Dress to Impress with my friend. And I know that sentence should
probably only be said by someone who's like 12 years old, but
here I am. And when I logged in I had to to
verify my age and I thought I was 18.
How old am I? That is 8 years off.
Like that is crazy. Either I just look like a child
or it is just completely inaccurate.
I ended up having to verify that I was 21 plus, which is crazy.
Anyway, as The Verge noted in their reporting, Roblox daily
active users has actually dropped by 12 million globally
between Q1 and the end of last year.
And this is widely being attributed to age check
features. As the journalist write quote,
Roblox says that Q1 growth was tempered by greater than
expected headwinds due to the rollout of its age Check
features, which slowed new user acquisition.
So arguably this downward trend might explain why appealing to
an older audience is important to the platform.
Whether that is the right thing to do, I guess is a different
question. The next thing we need to talk
about is a Muggle. Yes, Omegle, not Omegle.
Omegle is a recently launched platform slash 1V1 game I guess
where users are matched up with other players and have the
opportunity to quote UN quote out mug each other.
It's basically like Omegle where these connections are
randomized. I presume you guys know what
mugging is, but if you don't the term is basically a verb, and I
guess it can also be a suffix, but it basically means to
outshine or outperform someone else.
At least that's how it's being used these days.
It's often said in relation to looks maxing.
So as you can gather from that, it does come from the
manosphere. As far as its origins, according
to NPR quote, the time mugging comes from the initialism AMOG,
which is alpha male of the group and to be mugged is to be shown
up by another more masculine male.
So the time itself has obviously become increasingly mainstream
over the past few months specifically, which does make me
uncomfortable considering how obviously it is rooted in
extremist harmful Internet circles.
Yet we continue to use the time. But when it comes to a muggle
uses a place in a quote UN quote mug arena to compete against one
another. It's kind of giving The Hunger
Games. As for who wins though, the
participants are judged by a using the PSL score which is an
incel slash looks maxing scale to rank attractiveness and on
omagle they are ranked on a scale of 1 to 10 I believe.
And here is a video explaining how the platform works.
I just built the world's first mog arena where you can mog
people in real time. The way it works is it uses a 3D
mesh to scan your face and measure it and then adjust your
score based off the PSL scale as.
For the PSL scale, these rankings of attractiveness are
often between 1:00 and 8:00, but they're also associated with
specific times and titles like Chad and Normie.
These ranks are decided by what is considered quote UN quote
objective ratings based on factors like facial harmony,
balance, symmetry, all that kind of stuff.
It's obviously based on very misogynistic and Eurocentric
standards of attractiveness. It almost gives eugenics a
little bit. As for the people playing the
game, there is a the leaderboard that ranks players worldwide and
at the time I was researching this the top three players had
between 1300 and 1900 wins meaning they out mugged the
person they were paired up against.
Having said that the platform is limited to 18 plus users but
there is kind of no real way to prove this.
You are asked when you enter the platform if you're overall under
18 and when you click on over 18 then you have to do a camera
check for quote anti abuse and age acknowledging it is not a
government ID check or durable proof of identity.
I did look at the terms of service and the privacy policy
of the platform because I was very intrigued by it.
Omagle says that they do not store the face prints nor do
they quote, sell, lease, trade, or otherwise profit from facial
meshes, face prints or face templates.
According to the privacy policy, it is stored locally.
Though I will say Reddit users are still very cautious of the
platform as one user question quote, is the purpose of this
website to grab free training material for biometric based
surveillance and or AI usage? And it seemed like quite a few
Reddit users shared a similar skepticism where that comment
had over 450 upvotes. So this platform has really been
gaining traction because major streamers have started using it
and streaming on it. Soon after a gained popularity
though, reports started surfacing from the Twitch
community that the platform was sending warnings to users who
went on a muggle during stream. It also seemed to go against
Twitch's community guidelines, which listed quote randomized
video chat services under sensitive content when referring
to the types of content that are prohibited on the platform.
Twitch has seemingly since backflipped saying that it is no
longer prohibiting streaming content from randomized video
chat sites, which doesn't really do well in my opinion.
We all know how inappropriate those types of sites can be, and
the fact that young people could be watching makes the whole
thing extremely ominous. I just find this whole thing to
be quite concerning because we really continue to see
practices, terminology, and behaviors from dog places on the
Internet like the manosphere, whether that be looks, maxes, or
in cell circles, find their way into the mainstream where
they're completely being stripped of their context,
origin, and true meaning and often being used as a meme.
This kind of messaging, even when it is supposed to be a
joke, will only end up being increasingly harmful for women
and other marginalized groups. I feel a similar way about this
as I did when I reported on SORA, where I spoke about how we
are embedding misogynistic ideology and practices into the
very fabric of this new era of technology with AI.
And I think it's the same thing with Internet culture and social
media. I feel like older Gen. feds or
older people online at least need to do a better job at
setting a boundary and not embracing this kind of language
and culture. That is something I should take
on myself to be honest. My last story for today is a
little bit more of a tidbit, but I wanted to include it to maybe
end up on a less depressing note.
I wanted to quickly talk about chat GP TS latest obsession.
This story was sent to me by my friend and I felt the need to
drop it in after she sent it to me.
So shout out friend of the pod Ella.
Last week, social media users were sharing instances of their
conversation with ChatGPT, where the chat bot seemingly
repeatedly referenced goblins question mark in ways that
didn't really make sense at all or were out of context.
The Wall Street Journal published an article about this
as well as journalist Ben Glickman writes.
Quote. Recent models of the artificial
intelligence chatbot have been bringing up the creatures and
conversations with users seemingly out of the blue, as
well as gremlins, trolls, and ogres.
The goblins speak caught the attention of programmers who are
often heavily users of the bot. This whole thing has since
become known as Goblin Gate by some social media users, which I
think is pretty funny. This became the so widespread
that Open AI went on to issue a whole publication slash
statement about it. According to Open AI, ever since
GPT 5.1, the models increasingly started mentioning goblins.
Open AI explained that this came from Chat GPT's personality
customization feature, which included a nerdy personality.
As it reads quote, the short answer is that model behavior is
shaped by many small incentives. In this case, one of those
incentives came from training the model for the personality
customization feature, in particular the nerdy
personality. We unknowingly gave particularly
high rewards for metaphors with creatures.
From there, the goblins spread. This only seemed to pick up in
frequency and later models. The publication also included a
graph showing how much mentioning goblins increased
while using the nerdy personality in GPT 5.4, finding
that it was highly concentrated there.
The goblins have since been quote UN quote retired and the
publication declares this the end of the goblins where open AI
quote retired the nerdy personality.
In March after launching GPT 5.4 in training, we removed the
goblin a fine reward signal and filter training data containing
creature words, making goblins less likely to overappear or
show up in inappropriate contexts.
Even though the goblins have since been retired, if this
story can show us anything, I think it shows us how much these
models do embody stereotypes. Like the fact that the reference
to goblins was being overly used in the nerdy personality
indicates that. We have discussed this of course
before, but I think this is an especially interesting example
when you read the publication. Given that it kind of goes into
the training process All in all, I guess we just have to be sure
to keep all of that in mind whenever you encounter AI
written content or just AI generated content more broadly.
Well, that is everything from this insane episode of mini tech
scroll today. I really hope you guys enjoyed
Lauren will be back to speak to you tomorrow.
Remember to Spotify, Star Raiders and yes, thank you for
listening. Bye.
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