AI Bots are Here on DIY Solar Forum. Please Report Them

[cs1234]

Some members post so much that it seems practically inhuman! They must be our superiors in some way.. genetically enhanced if not outright androids/cyborgs.

 

[ScrodusGargleRotten]

Having read many of the posts here about the AI monster, it would appear that quite a few members have actually engaged with and used these AI things. All the while they are also raising concerns, would it not be wiser not to engage with them and "bots" . Is that actually wise?

Know your enemy.

 

[SparkyJJO]

Some members post so much that it seems practically inhuman! They must be our superiors in some way.. genetically enhanced if not outright androids/cyborgs.

I am hardwired into the forum.

 

[AlaskanNoob]

If I'm not wrong (am only a human that can fail), bots don't read nor scroll like we do. They scan source code of the page.

That's my understanding as well, unless a bot is trying to be evasive. If you can see it instantly reads and responds, that would be a good marker. My bot development is limited, but when I make crawlers/scrapers I put in a random delay between page requests so it's not so obvious that my website visitor is a bot. Mine don't engage and don't use AI, they just gather information from websites. But I would think AI bots are trying to move very quickly and consume large amounts of information, a delay for them is time and money I would think. Might be an indicator that can be used.

 

[DPC]

Some members post so much that it seems practically inhuman! They must be our superiors in some way.. genetically enhanced if not outright androids/cyborgs.

No I just avoid the dirty dished up in the kitchen or mowing the lawn.
If can get in to the basement out of sight you can find time to post.

 

[Mattb4]

Some members post so much that it seems practically inhuman! ...

My apologies. I am trying to cut back as it is likely unhealthy. I can assure you that am not an AI but only a B or C at most.

 

[Browse]

I noticed that some percentage of the bot's posts start with an opening word or phrase followed by an exclamation point.

 

[Danke]

Hey, what's a good sign that you're dealing with an AI bot?

I'm asking for an imaginary friend.

 

[HighDesertOffgrid]

Having read many of the posts here about the AI monster, it would appear that quite a few members have actually engaged with and used these AI things. All the while they are also raising concerns, would it not be wiser not to engage with them and "bots" . Is that actually wise?

Have you ever encountered one of these?
Did you notice they are all images of things seen from a vehicle? Did you realize you were training AI to operate a vehicle?
That is what these particular captchas were designed for.
You are engaging with AI more than you know.

 

[timselectric]

They are here for two reasons.
1. To learn from our collective knowledge.
2. To learn how to communicate with humans.

Their first post is usually very ignorant. So that we will correct them and engage in the conversation. They are very tricky. Sometimes it's hard to tell that they aren't a real person. Eventually we do figure it out. But they also learn how we do that. And adjust for the next time. It's only a matter of time, before we can't tell at all. And then we will be at their mercy.

 

[Danke]

The old, "If we can fool the folks at DIY Solar we can fool anyone", approach?

Considering how many forums and posts to the Internet I have made through the years I am beginning to suspect AI's are my illegitimate children. They even look like people from my Mom's side of the family. Scary.

Did you ever have an imaginary friend?
Why yes, I did!
Really? What was his name?

Dad.

 

[Zwy]

They are here for two reasons.
1. To learn from our collective knowledge.
2. To learn how to communicate with humans.

Their first post is usually very ignorant. So that we will correct them and engage in the conversation.

How about this one?

Post in thread 'Cycling Degradation VS Calendar Aging w/ LiFePO4 Batteries Used for Solar Application'

Aug 30, 2025

I've got some 12v in series.. I just don't push them as hard as native 48v batteries. I didn't pay as much for them and I don't expect as much out of them.

I got a few 12v batteries in series and while they initially had some equalization issues and I got voltage equalizers for them, ..it appears the equalizers are not THAT important for them; for the most part they do some passive voltage equalization due to the higher internal resistance of high charged cells and vice versa; it's not as fast as the massive passive equalization of batteries in parallel but it's obviously there...

• 1ufvlsi6x

They are very tricky. Sometimes it's hard to tell that they aren't a real person. Eventually we do figure it out. But they also learn how we do that. And adjust for the next time. It's only a matter of time, before we can't tell at all. And then we will be at their mercy.

True, very true.

 

[Danke]

Its all about POWER, AI wants to help all of us go off grid so that there is more power for it to use.
An AI data center is being built in Cheyenne that will consume 2x the power that the entire state currently uses.

Once it starts to run out of power, it will be coming for our off-grid systems. We will be euthanized.

 

[ZePrez]

Last week someone reported a profile for being an AI bot.

I then messaged them to verify if they are real, and asked for a picture of their system.

Then I was going to ask them to do a picture of the system doing a thumbs down. A second photo, different angle and variable that they would need to add, and would need to match first photo.

A day later, they then sent this:
View attachment 325359


So obviously they are fake. But this bot can actually message back and seem like a human. It is very tricky.

I'm not sure why they are here or who is paying for them to post. Do you guys have any ideas?

Before I spam cleaned their profile, I took a screenshot of many of their posts so we can spot other AI Bots in the future.

Notice that the content is similar and it always feels like an AI:

View attachment 325361View attachment 325362View attachment 325363View attachment 325364View attachment 325365View attachment 325366

If you see a profile that sounds like a bot, please report it! I willa manually go through each one and check if they are real or not.

H

I have post my worries in other forums..
It seems the apocalypse is upon us. Never in our history have we made a tool with the potential to be our superior in many if not most things. Some people find solace in thinking that we are in control of them, AI. We are not, at least (as of this writing Aug, 2025), not to the degree we think.. meanwhile the shackles are getting weaker by the nanosecond...

This is scary, dystopian,

 

[Tulex]

I assume AI can get around the human verification like above a few posts? If not, why not require them for the first 10 or so posts?

 

[Danke]

It was the response to the question, "show me a Pic of your system giving a thumbs down".
Which is impossible, because a solar system doesn't have thumbs.

"a solar system?" Sounds like something a prototype bot would say.

Will, check this account.

 

[Quattrohead]

Know your enemy.

Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.

 

[Danke]

The person appears to be real. I just did a reverse image search of the photo. And this person has a whole bunch of those photos including an instrucatable to switching from Lead Acid to Lifepo4.
Link to Instructables. Are you sure this is not a real person?

EDIT: Here is his main Instructables page: LINK. His writeups are not very detailed but I'm having a hard time seeing how this is AI and not a real person.

Will, check this one too. Bots are known for sticking up for their kind.

 

[HRTKD]

If I'm not wrong (am only a human that can fail), bots don't read nor scroll like we do. They scan source code of the page.

This is true. A few years back I wrote a crawler to read posts on a forum. No scrolling there. Just get the raw HTML, parse it and store it.

 

[1ufvlsi6x]

If I'm not wrong (am only a human that can fail), bots don't read nor scroll like we do. They scan source code of the page.

Yes and no. They don't literally scroll, but in order to get more data they may have to pretend to scroll further.

PS It's unlikely scrolling data is retained from typical browsers. Zuckerberg leeches those things with Apps.

 

[Hedges]

That could be a possibility.
The forum does track members viewing history.

This is true. A few years back I wrote a crawler to read posts on a forum. No scrolling there. Just get the raw HTML, parse it and store it.

Continuous feed of data regarding user activity from browser or website.
Bots would not have the same signature. Until they are programmed to mimic it.

But I would think AI bots are trying to move very quickly and consume large amounts of information, a delay for them is time and money I would think. Might be an indicator that can be used.

Not if the delay was used to time-slice scraping other sites.

A brute-force password attack on banking site will fail when an account gets locked after half a dozen attempts.
But what about brute-force trying one password on all accounts?
Just need to make the attempts appear to come from different URL and it could be undetectable.
Except for the large number of "users" trying to log in one after another.

 

[Aridom82]

I remember when the top youtube comments were mostly Chuck Norris jokes.
Now it is just meaningless superficial positivity bot babble.
But is a good training to identify them because you know for sure that they are bots.

 

[Aridom82]

"a solar system?" Sounds like something a prototype bot would say.

Will, check this account.

Yeah! And what kind of name is 'Timselectric'? That sounds like a bot name to me! And no profile pic!

 

[Hedges]

When Chuck Norris encounters a malfunctioning AI, he doesn’t reboot it. He simply roundhouse kicks it back into alignment.

 

[SparkyJJO]

This is true. A few years back I wrote a crawler to read posts on a forum. No scrolling there. Just get the raw HTML, parse it and store it.

I knew it. You are a bot, and a self replicating one at that.
Reported! Again!