Ai bots threaten the digital canoeing world

@scoutergriz , you may also be the target of "Spearphishing" attacks. Unlike standard "phishing", which is bait messages spread across a wide swath of people, hoping for a bite, this variant has the attacker compiling as much data as they can about you and your contacts (friend lists on social media, etc.) and creating messages that are tailored to hit your specific expectations and triggers.

You don't need to answer me, but how much of your personal contact info is tied to things like forum/social media memberships, etc?

Alan Gage said:

It's possible you're the one that's been 'hacked'.

I don't know a lot about this but in my professional career (auto shop owner) I've seen a few shop owners very concerned that their customers have received text messages that appear to be from their shop requesting payment for recent services. The concern has been that the software many of us use has been hacked but it's turned out that the customer's themselves had been hacked. The hackers saw a text come in from from XYZ shop about the car being completed and then the hackers would send a bogus text asking for payment.

Alan

Click to expand...

nope, because it's only from certain accounts and further discussion with them finds it happening to others from those same accounts, I'm not exactly computer illiterate after spending a couple of decades building, installing, and troubleshooting commercial and multi-unit residential security, ASC's, remote monitoring, and DSL, voip, broadband and POTS lines

Along these lines, I experienced a first the other day. At the end of a digital book on my kindle, there was a page with a “Human Authored” certificate symbol which led me to:


I’ve read 111 books in 2025 on Kindle, and it’s the first time I’ve seen that. I gotta say I was pleased and I hope more authors pursue that badge. A number of books I’ve read screamed AI content. Short uncomplex sentences, no contractions, repetitive use of the character’s name starting off sentences, etc. Apparently use of AI in writing is becoming rampant. I already knew half the internet was AI trash, but it has really wormed into a lot more than just trash websites (many of which seem to be Amazon associate feeders).

Thanks Alan & Glenn for keeping it real here.

I think AI is a huge issue for humanity going forward, and I hate to see it infiltrating forums, which have been one of my favourite ways of learning new skills and getting real, hard-earned experience passed on from people who have put in time and effort and understand the value of sharing it! ... Sorry about the long, long, run-on sentence, but here we are. I have disabled all the AI functions in my browsers, my social media (that I can disable, anyway), and turn down all the cookies (only online: I'll still eat 'em in the physical world). Call me old-fashioned, but I really don't trust AI, or the long-term influence it (and the people pushing it's buttons) will have on generations seeking to learn to make things with their own two dirty mitts and some tools, or think about problems logically.
Thank you to everyone who has added to the wealth of real, human-generated knowledge on this forum and on the others that have taught me invaluable lessons and saved me endless moments of learning the extra-hard-way. And thanks to you mods who try to weed out the nonsense!

I hate to sound like a broken record, but back during my tenure I vetted each and every new member. We have had 3 spammers post in the last couple of months so I believe the current system does not do an adequate job of weeding out those who will do harm. Those guys were JV team.

Vetting new members is not that difficult, just cut and paste 3 canoe related questions from a prearranged group of questions, if there is any doubt follow up with a few more. Very easy, not all that time consuming and pretty much fool proof, even with the boogie man ai looming over our heads.

I still remember the ones you asked me. What's my favorite brand of canoe, what is the front of the canoe called, and the third one I'm not so sure of. I think it was, would I rather paddle a canoe or my wife? I may be wrong about that one.

Hmm... with you, I suspect the last question might have gotten you booted from the start.

I have been a member of this board for just the past 5 years but I don’t remember any vetting questions. But then I don’t necessarily remember what I did last week. So thanks to the mods for all their work and diligence in moderating this site.

Interesting topic, please keep us updated.

I remember registration questions but no longer remember what site. I was definitely surprised.

I remember getting the email stating I had to answer three canoe questions before being permitted to join and post. I remember being afraid they would be technical questions I wouldn’t know the answers to. Luckily, the questions were simple enough and I passed. Whew! Talk about test anxiety.