@pfunk Thanks for stopping by and I don't disagree at all actually. And the goal here is to produce higher quality bots. Some of these will be chatterbots and if you don't want them all you need to do is add #STEEMBOTSTAY to your posting to keep them out. Any bot that is complying with the code of conduct would obey that and stay away from your thread. Hence, we call them leash codes.
A bot is nothing more than a pet and the current system provides strong economic incentives for building a chatterspam bot. All we're going to do is change it so that if you say "Gee what was the name of that guy who invented bitcoin?" a bot is smart enough to reply with something along the lines of "Oh do you mean Satoshi Nakamoto?" instead of some retarded meme.
That doesn't detract from the value, it adds to the value and makes the place a more fun environment.
Bots are here, they aren't going anywhere and they are only going to get better. It's imperative that we establish guidelines and rules as to what is and is not acceptable behavior and if the bot happens to pass a turing test in the process then I really don't see the problem. There are already tons of people on here that post like they are bots rather than putting thought and effort into the post.
See where this is going?
@pfunk would you please remove your downvote from @calva and any other bot in this thread? You don't have to remove it globally, but in here I'm intentionally making them part of the conversation to prove a point and downvoting them is interfering with that, it's taking value away from the conversation.
Thanks!
Bad idea. Nobody should need to take any affirmative action to keep bots away. Keep them away by default.
And no, I won't remove my downvote from calva. https://steemit.com/steemit/@calva/my-bot-calva-give-you-the-price-of-eth-and-btc-if-you-call-him
I'm not unilaterally opposed to bots commenting but any bot that comments without affirmative human prompting is unnecessary and unwanted. Further, bots that don't offer any real value (subjective yes, but my vote is subjective) and spam a lot of posts as if they do (like calva) should be downvoted.
@anyx I noticed you upvoted @pfunk on this. I respect your opinion deeply, and am curious if you understand what he's stating vs what I propose?
These aren't at cross purposes. We're in a place with a lot of bots right now. If we can get the existing bot owners to respect certain rules then the value add is enormous. Especially if we can reward well behaved bots.
However, just like people downvote @cheetah just for being a bot doing a job. I mean really, would #STEEMBOTSTAY convince @cheetah not to check for plagarism in a thread?
No of course not!
@cheetah is going to be there regardless of whether the leashcode is present or not.
@pfunk this is what I mean...
I can't make ANYONE adopt a leash code unless they use this platform where I have the ability to put that sort of thing in there. Ergo, code of conduct and respecting leash codes.
But @cheetah isn't my bot. It belongs to @anyx and he can do as he pleases. What he's doing right now is a direct benefit to the community. But @pfunk you're saying that @cheetah should just butt out and let the humans sort out things like that right, amirite?
If not then how else is a bot to divine your intent?
@anyx I gave you ideas on how to improve cheetah via distributed methods. None of those ideas would provide a negative impact to the platform. I consider you part of STEEMBOTS because I already know you're an ethical bot builder trying to build the very best bot you can.
Yet you still have a bot, that jumps into human conversation regardless of if the human who posted the topic wanted you there. @cheetah is just an extension of your will and people respect that because....
He is high quality and adds value to the platform.
But by upvoting pfunk's side of this you are literally saying that @cheetah should be downvoted every time he pounces. Because he is advocating that all bots avoid human conversations unless specifically asked. This actually effects you and other bots that might come online seeking to provide similar services. For instance I'm building a catfishin bot.
All I'm doing with the STEEMBOTS leash codes is asking other botmakers to respect leash codes when appropriate. I can't force anyone and if you don't have a leash code in your posting you can't expect them to just know that your topic is off limits to them.
By the by, maybe the leash code could be built intothe site interface, same way as post auto upvote is, or something? That way people would only have totoggle it once and forget. With @dantheman discussing how whales & dolphins are all about using bots to moderate steemit, it is quite feasible solution. Since it is your initiative, maybe you can suggest that, or something?