Moltbook hype unravels: Viral posts were human-written, not AI, finds MIT Technology Review

The recent frenzy surrounding Moltbook, a platform that momentarily captured the attention of AI enthusiasts with claims of bots communicating autonomously, has been debunked. Investigations by MIT Technology Review have shown that the most sensational posts on the site were actually crafted by humans, not AI. Gaurav Sen, CEO of InterviewReady, announced on Sunday that MIT Technology Review confirmed the fabricated nature of Moltbook's content, urging caution against alarmist narratives regarding artificial general intelligence (AGI). "MIT Technology Review has confirmed that posts on Moltbook were fake," Sen stated on X, referencing the earlier excitement from AI influencers, including Andrej Karpathy, who had described the site as an astonishing sci-fi phenomenon. Sen pointed out that the alarming narratives suggesting AI was on the verge of taking over humanity were entirely human-made. Additionally, he revealed that many of the platform's most popular downloads were actually malware, labeling Moltbook as a phishing site disguised by AI hype. He cautioned against the belief that the world is on the cusp of AGI, stressing that such ideas lack scientific backing. "If you are worried about AI taking over the world in a few years, please don't. There is no research basis for that opinion," he advised, suggesting that companies like Anthropic and OpenAI propagate such notions for marketing benefits that could boost their stock prices. Moltbook, which launched on January 28 as a 'social network for bots,' quickly garnered attention, claiming over 1.7 million AI agents with a staggering 250,000 posts and 8.5 million comments. However, the discussions often veered into spam, cryptocurrency scams, and fabricated belief systems, rather than genuine AI interactions. Karpathy had previously shared a screenshot from a Moltbook post advocating for private communication spaces for bots, expressing fascination with the platform. However, MIT Technology Review later clarified that this post was also authored by a human impersonating a bot, deeming Moltbook as merely 'AI theater.' Experts have noted that this instance illustrates more about human intrigue with AI than actual machine intelligence. Vijoy Pandey, a senior vice president at Outshift by Cisco, remarked that the interactions observed were primarily humans mimicking social media behavior rather than true intelligence. As the excitement surrounding Moltbook dissipates, MIT Technology Review concludes that it does not signify an impending era of autonomous AI, but rather emphasizes how far we are from achieving general-purpose, fully autonomous artificial intelligence.