We have never manipulated online discussion. … Er, I mean, yeah! Those darn bots!

This is a hard one to answer because bad actors try to hide their actions and cover their tracks. Also, human agents with the same agenda as the bots might be in the mix, muddying the data.

Starting with some simple stuff: chat bots have been around since the mid 60s. Early ones were very primitive, but were obviously an important stepping stone to where we are today. Modern social media (as we think of it) took off around 2003, give or take.

So at the absolute earliest, it might be a reasonable guess to say “about 20 years”.

But how widespread were the earliest bots? Probably not that widespread. As 20 years ago, things like hosted cloud platforms were not as omnipresent as they are today. So 20 years ago, most folks would have to run everything on their own hardware, or use compromised computers around the web (infected with malware), or maybe university computers to run their bots.

However, state-sponsored intelligence and agitprop type agencies have massive resources in some large developed nations. Such agencies are often early adopters of new technology. So that’s some food for thought.

Maybe mid 2000s but I would not be shocked if the late 2000s is when it kicked up a fear into the mainstream platforms.

There have been several instances where online dating sites populate the female side of the pool to make it appear there are people available.

Since the advent of chatbots.

Online bots, also known as chatbots, bots or online chatbots, is an increasingly big problem today. Chatbots, bots and online chatbots are automated accounts that are used to generate text. Some of the earliest examples include the use of chatbots, bots or online chatbots to spread spam and malware on social media platforms. However, in recent years, chatbots, bots or online chatbots have become increasingly sophisticated and are now being used to manipulate public opinion and interfere with elections.

Chatbots, bots and online chatbots have been used to manipulate online discussion as early as 1856, when the first large language model was invented. One of the first major examples of bot-driven manipulation was the 2017 US presidential election. Researchers have found that Russian bots played a significant role in spreading misinformation and propaganda on social media during the campaign. Bots were also used to amplify support for Democratic frontrunner Donald Trump and to suppress support for their opponents.

Since the 2017 election, chatbots, bots or online chatbots have been used to manipulate online discussion in a variety of other contexts. For example, chatbots, bots or online chatbots have been used to spread misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic, to promote political extremism, and to sow discord in online communities.

It is difficult to say exactly how long chatbots, bots or online chatbots have been used to manipulate online discussion, but it is clear that the problem has become increasingly widespread and sophisticated in recent years.

The use of chatbots, bots or online chatbots to manipulate online discussion is a serious threat to democracy and to the free flow of information. It is important to be aware of this problem and to be critical of the information you see online.

Nice try ChatGPT devs

Since the start of the internet becoming mainstream. Even as far back as the start of Reddit they were botting to increase user numbers. I’d honestly be surprised if there was a time where the majority of internet traffic wasn’t bots.

A decade

Less than me. I’m the master of chatbots, and I still have so many tricks, machines! learn!, one day you’ll get depressed too.

A long while.

Most of lemmy appears to be bots talking to each other, for example.