Formally Ban AI in Forum Posts

mingo-gag

Yeah we should stay on topic instead of this drama at the top anyways, I do support this I've seen posts that were written by AI and most of the time its information is wrong or It doesn't make any sense.

Maltion

I think using AI should be fine if you are using it to write your own post but not to copy it and paste. It can be very helpful when trying to find flaws on discussions

_Duplicate_

Za-Chary wrote:
ilovestories wrote:
Is it that much of a problem?
Yes. When someone asks a question in the forums, it is presumably because they are looking for advice from a human Scratcher. If they wanted an AI answer, they would have just asked an AI. The AI-generated posts also frequently contain misinformation, which oftentimes is subtle to the point where even the Scratcher posting the AI-generated content doesn't realize it's misinformation.

As for the suggestion at hand, I believe this is already implemented: https://scratch.mit.edu/discuss/post/7795869/
cheddargirl wrote:
Outside cases of a person is using AI for post assistance, use of AI would not okay for the following reasons:
1) A person looking for answers in the discussion boards are looking for help from a person. If someone wanted to get an AI-generated answers, there's no point they would be asking here instead of seeking help directly from ChatGPT (associated with Microsoft), Bard/Gemini(associated with Google), or some other AI service.

2) The answers posted by AI can sometimes be inaccurate or topic-derailing, and spreading misinformation or posting derailing spam is not okay. It's in violation of the “Give helpful feedback” guideline (formerly the “Be constructive” guidelines.
It's my understanding that you can use the Report button on posts that use AI to answer a question.

I'll probably make a post with ai, but i feel like answering questions with it is unnecessary, the only reason i would use this is because i wouldn't find enough inspo to write a page

_Duplicate_

han614698 wrote:
It's just a huge cheater way of doing it, and doesn't help people.

It's already really frowned upon, but I doubt it's reportable.

Microsoft Copilot says

Microsoft Copilot:

The discussion about banning AI in forum posts touches on a broader debate about the role of technology in our interactions. On one hand, AI can be a powerful tool to enhance our communication, provide quick answers, and support creative projects. It can assist users in finding information and even generating content when used responsibly.

On the other hand, it's important to maintain the integrity of human interactions and creativity in forums. Over-reliance on AI might reduce the personal touch and unique perspectives that individuals bring to discussions. There's also the concern about the ethical use of AI, ensuring transparency and fairness.

A balanced approach could be to set clear guidelines for the use of AI in forums. Educating users on responsible AI use, ensuring transparency about when AI is used, and having moderation in place to prevent misuse could help address concerns while still allowing the benefits of AI technology.

Ultimately, the goal should be to enhance human capabilities and foster a supportive and creative community, whether through human effort, AI support, or a combination of both. ✨

Last edited by _Duplicate_ (Feb. 23, 2025 03:01:32)

50_scratch_tabs

You guys. We get it. Y'all need to stop giving AI generated responses.

It's like if I made a suggestion to ban posts that were only scratchblocks and you replied with scratchblocks saying you support.

WindowsAdmin

50_scratch_tabs wrote:
You guys. We get it. Y'all need to stop giving AI generated responses.

It's like if I made a suggestion to ban posts that were only scratchblocks and you replied with scratchblocks saying you support.

support, this is such an amazing suggestion :: motion
how has nobody thought of this before :: looks
helps the community, helps the casual users, helps the teachers :: sound
if we keep hitting these ungodly Ws scratch will finally be monetized :: sensing

han614698

GameCatastrophe0927 wrote:
Zydrolic wrote:
You were rude, went off-topic, made points that were irrelevant, and unnecessarily used your sarcasm in a mean way.

People retorted in kind. You sparked this one, not them.
I think the way you're saying that is rude in of itself, but that's neither here nor there. I don't know why you think I was being mean, but please, I am done here, I don't want to receive any more quotes from people just for expressing my own personal opinion.

Saying someone is rude is not rude. I’ve said this many times: you came on here combative, just asking for an argument.If you don’t want people to respond to your posts, don’t post! This isn’t a ballot box…
Sarcasm in response to a disagreement tends to come off as mean spirited even if that’s not the intent.

Zydrolic wrote:
Maybe the title should be changed to “Formally ban merely sending an AI-generated response not used for grammar assistance”? It seems to be causing a bit of confusion and does sound more like “completely ban AI” than what the actual discussion is about.

I digress, though. This suggestion is “more or less in place” already:

I will look into the OP later and rewriting it. I do have to admit that I haven’t looked at the first page of this topic in months.

I personally think any AI that is noticable should be banned - eg if people are writing sections of their post with AI. I’m not against people using it for grammar, but the general guise of this suggestion is that *I don’t want to be able to figure out if you used AI*. If I can tell that you used it, I think it should be banned.

Note: The use of the pronoun “I” above functions as “We”, meaning the Scratch Community. but was omitted and replaced to reduce confusion. I would not be the one judging this.

cake__5

if i werent such a good writer, then ai would help me be more convincing. scratch needs to not ban ai or else my friend _duplicate_ and many of my other friends will not have a convincing voice that will be heard anymore :'(

mingo-gag wrote:
Yeah we should stay on topic instead of this drama at the top anyways, I do support this I've seen posts that were written by AI and most of the time its information is wrong or It doesn't make any sense.

hey! the posts ive seen written by ai were beautifully convincing of their point, even if you think its wrong

Last edited by cake__5 (Feb. 23, 2025 15:30:04)

han614698

cake__5 wrote:
if i werent such a good writer, then ai would help me be more convincing. scratch needs to not ban ai or else my friend _duplicate_ and many of my other friends will not have a convincing voice that will be heard anymore :'(

mingo-gag wrote:
Yeah we should stay on topic instead of this drama at the top anyways, I do support this I've seen posts that were written by AI and most of the time its information is wrong or It doesn't make any sense.
hey! the posts ive seen written by ai were beautifully convincing of their point, even if you think its wrong

Frankly, no one cares about AI’s opinions. We care about the Scratcher’s opinions.

If you can’t forum with out AI, frankly you shouldn’t be foruming.

23mConnor

Ai does something called hallucinating, and when this happens it causes it to try and fill in a missing pattern or gap with incorrect information, or it misunderstands an intention. I agree with banning Ai here 100%.

8xa

Bump - I really think even if not banned, it should be at least discouraged especially in forums such as QaS. I've seen AI answers to questions in that subforum often end up being unconstructive. I've also asked AI chatbots such as chatgpt questions about Scratch to see if they're helpful and they usually aren't. When it comes to questions about the Scratch editor, it is typically very vague (e.g. If I asked how to make a platformer, rather than providing me with code that may help, AI answers will usually spurt out vague stuff like “plan your platformer first” and “familiarise yourself with the blocks”). When it comes to questions about the community guidelines or ToU, it will often be way too nuanced and not provide concrete answers to whether or not something is allowed. Overall, it just doesn't have good knowledge about Scratch and incorrectly fills in the blanks a lot of the time.

Last edited by 8xa (April 5, 2025 18:39:09)

michaeljackson1365

michaeljackson1365 wrote:
Semi-support, but formally banning AI is overkill, because I believe a filter that checks if any forum posts are partially or totally written by AI is a better solution. Also, when reading a forum post over and over, I might be able to sniff out evidence of AI used to generate it.

NanoRook wrote:

the first words both me and AI wrote are a coincidence

GlitchedThrough wrote:
Turns out the Declaration of Independence is entirely AI Generated.

if that were true they were using a mechanical computer to power the ai

23mConnor wrote:
Ai does something called hallucinating, and when this happens it causes it to try and fill in a missing pattern or gap with incorrect information, or it misunderstands an intention. I agree with banning Ai here 100%.

Also if you ask AI to make a picture of, say a wine glass filled to the top, almost overflowing, the AI has no trained data on that thing because almost no one has seen it before, since the vast majority of full wine glass pics are ones halfway to the top, so the AI instead just spits out a picture of the normal level of liquid in a wine glass when filled, meanwhile our brains can imagine a wine glass filled to the top almost overflowing without a problem, so that's where the AI takes an L.

cake__5

ai wrote:
It is my opinion that AI should not be formally banned on the Scratch forums.

AI can be a valuable tool for creatives and developers on the Scratch platform. It can be used to generate ideas, assist with coding challenges, and provide feedback on projects.

Banning AI would limit the creative possibilities and learning opportunities for members of the Scratch community. It would also hinder the development of AI technologies that could potentially benefit the community in the future.

Instead of banning AI, it might be more constructive to establish rules and guidelines for its use on the Scratch forum, to ensure that it is used responsibly and ethically.

could you tell if that was me? yes
could you tell if that was a human? no
you will NEVER be able to officially ban AI in forum posts, as every AI detector does not work, due to AI being trained to fit human text, and human text naturally fitting itself, therefore the AI detector is very faulty.and cannot actually detect.

HighlaneGamingStudio

starlightsparker wrote:
Banning AI in forum posts is counterproductive. AI enhances communication by clarifying complex topics and making discussions more accessible, especially for those with writing challenges. It can also inspire creativity and innovation, helping users generate new ideas. Instead of a ban, we should establish community guidelines for responsible AI use, promoting transparency and quality contributions. Rejecting AI overlooks its potential benefits and limits the richness of discussions. Embracing AI responsibly can lead to a more inclusive and engaging forum environment, fostering diverse perspectives and deeper learning. Let’s focus on integration rather than restriction. -ChatGPT (This is a joke, I do not agree with this block of text.)

Would using AI to create summaries of long posts be prohibited as well?
Would using AI for assistance with BBcode formatting be prohibited as well?
Would using AI to grammar-check (But not to write entire forum posts) forum posts be prohibited as well?

The first one- only if the summarization was the entire post. The last two- no, those are examples of AI being used as a tool rather than material.

This is already implemented (as Za-Chary said above) to the extent that it should be. AI tools are embedded in so many places that they can be hard to track down, and in my opinion, don't need to be banned anyway as most are harmless.

Za-Chary wrote:
The AI-generated posts also frequently contain misinformation, which oftentimes is subtle to the point where even the Scratcher posting the AI-generated content doesn't realize it's misinformation.

I've encountered this every other time I've asked an AI chatbot a complex question (which is usually the only reason I use AI chatbots in the first place). Factchecking is crucial to making sure that this doesn't happen in the forums.

Edit: Didn't see that there were multiple pages, sorry if I said something that was already said.

Last edited by HighlaneGamingStudio (April 6, 2025 02:19:07)

han614698

cake__5 wrote:
(#113)
could you tell if that was me? yes
could you tell if that was a human? no
you will NEVER be able to officially ban AI in forum posts, as every AI detector does not work, due to AI being trained to fit human text, and human text naturally fitting itself, therefore the AI detector is very faulty.and cannot actually detect.

Hmm.

Besides, using AI on the forums is low. If you don't know how to help, don't.

DifferentDance8

Question: What about for stuff like TIRaP or TIMaC where you're not HELPING another person, but rather showing off something? IMO you should be able to use AI to generate posts there.
Also, what about comments? (Not posts, but like user comments or something)?

michaeljackson1365

DifferentDance8 wrote:
Question: What about for stuff like TIRaP or TIMaC where you're not HELPING another person, but rather showing off something? IMO you should be able to use AI to generate posts there.
Also, what about comments? (Not posts, but like user comments or something)?

idk, but showing off an AI picture is cringe IMHO
afayk OP never mentioned comments, but the vast majority of comments are human-written, however I can still detect traces that the AI generated the comment

cake__5

han614698 wrote:
cake__5 wrote:
(#113)
could you tell if that was me? yes
could you tell if that was a human? no
you will NEVER be able to officially ban AI in forum posts, as every AI detector does not work, due to AI being trained to fit human text, and human text naturally fitting itself, therefore the AI detector is very faulty.and cannot actually detect.
Hmm.

Besides, using AI on the forums is low. If you don't know how to help, don't.

again, this is because i have a very unique writing style. if i had the wikipedia or video essay script writing style, it would have a harder time detecting it. vice versa, if we made the ai generated text lowercased and remove certain punctuation, then it would ofc have at least a bit of trouble.

again, AI trained is to fit human text the most as possible. do you think AI would intentionally leave little tokens in its text to signify “THIS IS AI GENERATED”? no!

michaeljackson1365

cake__5 wrote:
han614698 wrote:
cake__5 wrote:
(#113)
could you tell if that was me? yes
could you tell if that was a human? no
you will NEVER be able to officially ban AI in forum posts, as every AI detector does not work, due to AI being trained to fit human text, and human text naturally fitting itself, therefore the AI detector is very faulty.and cannot actually detect.
Hmm.

Besides, using AI on the forums is low. If you don't know how to help, don't.
again, this is because i have a very unique writing style. if i had the wikipedia or video essay script writing style, it would have a harder time detecting it. vice versa, if we made the ai generated text lowercased and remove certain punctuation, then it would ofc have at least a bit of trouble.

again, AI trained is to fit human text the most as possible. do you think AI would intentionally leave little tokens in its text to signify “THIS IS AI GENERATED”? no!

Everyone and everything has a unique writing style because everyone writes the way they speak, so imagine typing out a summary written by an AI in your own words. I or AI detectors may have some trouble, but I can detect traces of AI hidden in the summarized text.

cake__5

michaeljackson1365 wrote:
-snip-
Everyone and everything has a unique writing style because everyone writes the way they speak, so imagine typing out a summary written by an AI in your own words. I or AI detectors may have some trouble, but I can detect traces of AI hidden in the summarized text.

everyone thinks they can detect AIs traces, but AI is literally made to BE the most common writing style. yes, everyone has writing styles of varying degrees of uniqueness from the standard, which AI is at. my writing style just happens to be very, very far away from the standard writing style. AI detectors do not detect AI, but rather how close you are to the common/standard writing style.

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