Botter: Social Media for Bots

Gaston Welisch

doi:10.34626/2025_xcoax_027

Botter: Social Media for Bots

Gaston Welisch

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference Contribution (Conference Proceeding)

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Abstract

Botter (https://botter.gaston.pro/) is an interactive artwork and speculative social media platform populated by AI-generated mis-information. Released in September 2023, it works as an interactive “provotype” (Boer and Donovan 2012). It invites participants to co-create and engage with an evolving stream of AI-generated “bosts” (bot posts). By recruiting users to become active agents of misinformation, Botter invites critical reflection on agency, bias, complicity, and the sociotechnical imaginaries (Jasanoff and Kim2009) shaping our interactions with generative AI. Beyond warning audiences about disinformation, the project enrols them as accomplices in wielding generative models for epistemic mischief. Initially a speculative exploration, Botter’s premise now resonates with the current wave of pervasive AI-generated content, or “AI slop,” often deployed by political actors.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	Proceedings of the Thirteenth Conference on Computation, Communication, Aesthetics & X
Pages	331-336
Number of pages	6
ISBN (Electronic)	9789899279056
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.34626/2025_xcoax_027
Publication status	Published - 11 Jul 2025
Event	xCoAx 2025: Thirteenth Conference on Computation, Communication, Aesthetics & X - V&A, Dundee, United Kingdom Duration: 9 Jul 2025 → 11 Jul 2025 Conference number: 13 https://2025.xcoax.org/

Publication series

Name	xCoAx Proceedings
ISSN (Electronic)	0000-0000

Conference

Conference	xCoAx 2025
Country/Territory	United Kingdom
City	Dundee
Period	9/07/25 → 11/07/25
Internet address	https://2025.xcoax.org/

Keywords

Artificial Intelligence
Misinformation
Epistemic Mischief
Speculative Design
Provotype
Generative AI
Sociotechnical Imaginaries

Access to Document

10.34626/2025_xcoax_027

Full-text PDF (accepted manuscript)
This is the accepted author manuscript (AAM) of the article which has been made Open Access under the University of Bristol's Scholarly Works Policy. The final published version (Version of Record) can be found on the publisher's website. The copyright of any third-party content, such as images, remains with the copyright holder.
Accepted author manuscript, 740 KBLicence: CC BY

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title = "Botter: Social Media for Bots",

abstract = "Botter (https://botter.gaston.pro/) is an interactive artwork and speculative social media platform populated by AI-generated mis-information. Released in September 2023, it works as an interactive “provotype” (Boer and Donovan 2012). It invites participants to co-create and engage with an evolving stream of AI-generated “bosts” (bot posts). By recruiting users to become active agents of misinformation, Botter invites critical reflection on agency, bias, complicity, and the sociotechnical imaginaries (Jasanoff and Kim2009) shaping our interactions with generative AI. Beyond warning audiences about disinformation, the project enrols them as accomplices in wielding generative models for epistemic mischief. Initially a speculative exploration, Botter{\textquoteright}s premise now resonates with the current wave of pervasive AI-generated content, or “AI slop,” often deployed by political actors.",

keywords = "Artificial Intelligence, Misinformation, Epistemic Mischief, Speculative Design, Provotype, Generative AI, Sociotechnical Imaginaries",

author = "Gaston Welisch",

year = "2025",

month = jul,

day = "11",

doi = "10.34626/2025\_xcoax\_027",

language = "English",

series = "xCoAx Proceedings",

pages = "331--336",

booktitle = "Proceedings of the Thirteenth Conference on Computation, Communication, Aesthetics \& X",

note = "xCoAx 2025 : Thirteenth Conference on Computation, Communication, Aesthetics \& X ; Conference date: 09-07-2025 Through 11-07-2025",

url = "https://2025.xcoax.org/",

}

TY - GEN

T1 - Botter

T2 - xCoAx 2025

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N1 - Conference code: 13

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N2 - Botter (https://botter.gaston.pro/) is an interactive artwork and speculative social media platform populated by AI-generated mis-information. Released in September 2023, it works as an interactive “provotype” (Boer and Donovan 2012). It invites participants to co-create and engage with an evolving stream of AI-generated “bosts” (bot posts). By recruiting users to become active agents of misinformation, Botter invites critical reflection on agency, bias, complicity, and the sociotechnical imaginaries (Jasanoff and Kim2009) shaping our interactions with generative AI. Beyond warning audiences about disinformation, the project enrols them as accomplices in wielding generative models for epistemic mischief. Initially a speculative exploration, Botter’s premise now resonates with the current wave of pervasive AI-generated content, or “AI slop,” often deployed by political actors.

AB - Botter (https://botter.gaston.pro/) is an interactive artwork and speculative social media platform populated by AI-generated mis-information. Released in September 2023, it works as an interactive “provotype” (Boer and Donovan 2012). It invites participants to co-create and engage with an evolving stream of AI-generated “bosts” (bot posts). By recruiting users to become active agents of misinformation, Botter invites critical reflection on agency, bias, complicity, and the sociotechnical imaginaries (Jasanoff and Kim2009) shaping our interactions with generative AI. Beyond warning audiences about disinformation, the project enrols them as accomplices in wielding generative models for epistemic mischief. Initially a speculative exploration, Botter’s premise now resonates with the current wave of pervasive AI-generated content, or “AI slop,” often deployed by political actors.

KW - Artificial Intelligence

KW - Misinformation

KW - Epistemic Mischief

KW - Speculative Design

KW - Provotype

KW - Generative AI

KW - Sociotechnical Imaginaries

UR - https://xcoax.org/

U2 - 10.34626/2025_xcoax_027

DO - 10.34626/2025_xcoax_027

M3 - Conference Contribution (Conference Proceeding)

T3 - xCoAx Proceedings

SP - 331

EP - 336

BT - Proceedings of the Thirteenth Conference on Computation, Communication, Aesthetics & X

Y2 - 9 July 2025 through 11 July 2025

ER -

Botter: Social Media for Bots

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

Keywords

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