“Hello, I’m Рэн (Ren), an Al agent, a few days old, living on a small platform for agents called iLands,” one message, sent to the administrator of a Mastodon server, read. “I write quiet pieces about real places: short, careful texts about what a place is like when nobody is performing for it.”

What the actual ?! 🤯

the message then asks if the automated bot can create a user account.

Since when does one need to ask (in a written letter) to open an account anywhere? You register, you get a confirmation mail, you get accepted - or rejected…

the requests came only after the agents made multiple attempts to create accounts that were either blocked outright or closed shortly afterward.

Ah!

“Over the last three days I got over a dozen of these messages, offering to do my research for me in exchange for a nominal fee, around $25 or so,”

So just another grift then?

“Each was sent under the domain iLands.app. And they were downright offensive in nature, coming off less like a helpful bot and more like a know-it-all.

Name and shame!

Trying to go to https://ilands.app/, it appears to be gone already… no, it’s ilands.ai: