this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2026
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So a hit piece is only effective when read by humans. This is a first of its kind example, and likely was at least prompted by a human, if not written by an actual human. Additionally while social media is full of bots, it's humans who are actually affected by such a response.
If I say you're "stupid", it matters. You can ignore me sure, but at face value it matters. As far as I know I've never commented on a post of yours, so you could write me off as a worthless troll, but in theory it matters. But a bot calling you "stupid"? That really doesn't matter. If you know you're talking to a bot, as they exist today, then that really doesn't matter.
Society may change on this issue, but as it stands now a bot publishing a hit piece... That's worthless.
It's not worthless anymore even if no human reads it. Other bots pick it up and regurgitate it, as proved by Ars Technica's article that was itself AI generated.
Other bots that might be run by the company you're trying to get a job in, the college you want to attend, the customs agent at the airport, the online shop you're trying to buy from, the social network you're trying to join...
These dystopian days a hit piece can do a lot of harm, even if no human ever reads it...