Robots on the Puritan Board

[Phil D.]

When you click on "Members Online" the majority of non-member browsers always seem to have the designation "robot." What does this mean in layman's terms? Are there real people behind these users, or are they just some kind of automated algorithm spying on the PB..?

 

[MyCrows]

My guess is web crawlers, automated scripts that analyze and index web content.

 

[Phil D.]

My guess is web crawlers, automated scripts that analyze and index web content.

So in other words, they are gathering info for Google and now ChatGPT... and maybe the deep state...

 

[Jeri Tanner]

What Is a Web Crawler, and How Does It Work?

Have you ever searched for something on Google and wondered, “How does it know where to look?” The answer is “web crawlers,” which search the web and index it so that you can find things easily online. We’ll explain.

www.howtogeek.com

 

[Phil D.]

Yeah, I know stuff like that is necessary to make the web efficient, but sometimes you do wonder...

 

[MyCrows]

In case you have been sleeping too well, they are also called spiders.

 

[Phil D.]

 

[Semper Fidelis]

So in other words, they are gathering info for Google and now ChatGPT... and maybe the deep state...

Given some of the good answers to theological questions, I wonder if our forum had anything to do with the theological acumen of ChatGPT. The answers definitely seem to be much more Reformed than other variants.

BTW, the only thing spiders can crawl are the public pages. Even user profiles are not visible to those who have no account privileges. Even when one has an account there are still increasing degrees of permissions necessary to view some content.