Something really odd/scary with a new post. Is AI creating new posts here??

[logbuilder]

On Feb 13th, 2023 a new post appeared that asked for input on solar integration with HS3. The post was created by a new user from Portugal. This was their first and only post from this account. Thing is, it is an altered version of a post I made in 2018. It almost feels to me like it could have been auto generated. I have no idea why. Any ideas? Seen this before? How do we know what is real or not?

Any opinions would be appreciated.
Robert

Here is the link as well as the actual text of the new 2023 post:
https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/en...ome-automation

I have been using HS3 for several years now, utilizing its many automation and scene features. I recently added a 10.2 kw solar generation system to my home. It consists of 34 panels and 17 apSystems microinvertors, which I believe will produce more energy than my usage over the year. I also installed an eGauge energy monitor to track both my energy production and consumption. The monitor has a nice browser interface, but it is unfortunate that it doesn't have a mobile app.

The purpose of this post is to gather ideas for further integrating my solar generation system into my home automation system, HS3. I live in an area where energy costs are consistent regardless of the time of day, so scheduling high energy activities during off-peak times does not result in cost savings.

I am looking for ideas and suggestions on how to best integrate my solar generation system into my home automation system, HS3. Perhaps there are ways to optimize my energy usage or monitor my system's performance more effectively. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Here is a link and text of the post I made in 2018.
https://forums.homeseer.com/forum/en...mating-via-hs3

I have been a HS3 user for several years. Lots of automation and scenes.

Recently I added a solar generation system. It has been active for about a month. It is 10.2 kw which I think should produce more than my usage over the year. It consists of 34 panels and 17 apSystems microinvertors. At the same time, I installed an eGauge energy monitor. It is monitoring and reporting both gross production and consumption. It has a relatively nice browser interface but no mobile app.

The nature of this post is to ask what do you intend to do once integrated in HS3. My power company does not do tiered pricing so energy costs the same whatever time of day it is. So the obvious of scheduling high energy activities during the off-peak times really makes no difference where I live.

What kind of ideas do you have to integrate into your home automation?

BTW, eGauge does have a nice API based on cgi and XML. Also, the eGauge device holds it's own history locally for many years which can be queried.

https://www.egauge.net/docs/egauge-xml-api.pdf

I also invested in a Chevy Bolt EV but I haven't found any type of api to communicate with. I understand Tesla has a robust API. Not Chevy.

[randy]

It is possible that the poster copied the text and altered it to fit their situation. Being from Portugal it might have been easier. They could’ve done a search for their situation and found your post. That’s just a guess.

Maybe reply to it and see if it is a human being.

[Rupp]

I believe some users are using AI to make posts and it's tough to tell these from valid posts. It's a nightmare trying to tell which new members are "real" and which are spammers as well. We get about 50-75 new users a day and most never post.

[kenm]

I believe some users are using AI to make posts and it's tough to tell these from valid posts. It's a nightmare trying to tell which new members are "real" and which are spammers as well. We get about 50-75 new users a day and most never post.

Several forums require an email confirmation and also moderate the first 3-5 posts from a new user. I'm sure Rupp would just love the extra work that would require.

I've seen similar posts on other forums that appear to be from chatbots but I'm not sure what their end-game is. Beware of links in any of these kinds of posts.

[randy]

HS requires an email and moderates the first post. There are no red flags in the post, so it was approved.

[kenm]

HS requires an email and moderates the first post. There are no red flags in the post, so it was approved.

OK. Makes sense. It's been over 20 years since I joined this forum.

I can see that it might be someone using the text of a previous post if it's a language thing but otherwise, what's the end-game for a post like this?

BTW, Google Translate does a pretty good job with everything except the tech words and acronyms.

[Demusman]

Most likely a spammer. I see it on a few other forums.
Same as you, the post they started with was one of mine. Then they start in with the spam.

[TC1]

Most likely a spammer. I see it on a few other forums.
Same as you, the post they started with was one of mine. Then they start in with the spam.

This makes a lot of sense, by posting a copy of message content that's already been deemed innocuous, it gets them approved. Then the spamming starts. Since they didn't have to actually come up with any message content then the whole thing is automated.

[logbuilder]

Demusman So if the end game is to create an account that will be approved so they can then spam us? Sounds possible. But why go to any trouble to manufacture a post? They could have used it as is. It is 5 years old. Who would remember it other than me? Maybe there are tools that automate creating new legitimate accounts. I intentionally didn't reply thinking it would be interesting to see their next move.

[Demusman]

Because, as already said, most forums moderate the first post.
Once that's done, they start in with junk.

[logbuilder]

Then the next activity would likely be spam. I hardly ever see anything here I would consider spam. Does that mean the mods quickly delete them? If so, they are doing a great job!

[TC1]

Then the next activity would likely be spam. I hardly ever see anything here I would consider spam. Does that mean the mods quickly delete them? If so, they are doing a great job!

Any number of reasons why you might not see any follow up posts, one reason is the automation breaks down, or the forum moderator took too long to approve the first post, which breaks the automation, or they move on.

[Rupp]

Then the next activity would likely be spam. I hardly ever see anything here I would consider spam. Does that mean the mods quickly delete them? If so, they are doing a great job!

We review every new users first post and yes it's a lot of work and at times tough to determine if it's real or fake. The beauty is once they do post spam it's relatively easy to delete the posts and ban the user. What amazed me is we have between 50 -75 new users sign up for accounts every day. 99% of these accounts are spammers. Why would someone sit at a PC and do this as they rarely ever post.

[logbuilder]

We review every new users first post and yes it's a lot of work and at times tough to determine if it's real or fake. The beauty is once they do post spam it's relatively easy to delete the posts and ban the user. What amazed me is we have between 50 -75 new users sign up for accounts every day. 99% of these accounts are spammers. Why would someone sit at a PC and do this as they rarely ever post.

Gee, that is a puzzle. Possibly they are creating a large footprint that could be 'activated' at some future date.
Or, by being a registered board member could they get some sort of access to a user list? Scrape the whole site?

Rupp, even though they generally don't post again, can you see whether they do other things - broad searches, searches for a specific member, page views very fast (scraping)?

Hey, anybody know how to make a tin foil hat?

[randy]

Having run two vBulletin sites for a dozen years, A registered user will not have access to anything other that a list of registered usernames, no other personal data, unless you specifically elect to share it in your profile.