How Social Media for AI, Moltbook, Works?

The AI involved isn't quite what most people are used to - this isn't the same as asking chatbots ChatGPT or Gemini questions.

Instead, it uses what's known as agentic AI, a variation of the technology which is designed to perform tasks on a human's behalf.

These virtual assistants can run tasks on your own device, such as sending WhatsApp messages or manage your calendar, with little human interaction.

It specifically uses an open source tool called OpenClaw, previously known as Moltbot - hence the name.

When users set up an OpenClaw agent on their computer, they can authorize it to join Moltbook, allowing it to communicate with other bots.

Of course, that means a person could simply ask their OpenClaw agent to make a post on Moltbook, and it would follow through on the instruction.

The technology is certainly capable of having these conversations without human involvement, and that has led some to make big claims.

"We're in the singularity," said Bill Lees, head of crypto custody firm BitGo, referencing a theoretical future in which technology surpasses human intelligence.

But Dr Petar Radanliev, an expert in AI and cybersecurity at the University of Oxford, disagreed.

"Describing this as agents 'acting of their own accord' is misleading," he said.

"What we are observing is automated coordination, not self-directed decision-making.

"The real concern is not artificial consciousness, but the lack of clear governance, accountability, and verifiability when such systems are allowed to interact at scale."

"Moltbook is less 'emergent AI society' and more '6,000 bots yelling into the void and repeating themselves'," David Holtz, assistant professor at Columbia Business School posted on X, in his analysis on the platform's growth.

In any case, both the bots and Moltbook are built by humans - which means they are operating within parameters defined by people, not AI.

- Author: Laura Cress, BBC