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PROJECTS / MACHINE ETHICS RESEARCH
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rep.licants.org
2011
rep.licants.org was a web service allowing users to install an artificial intelligence (bot) on their Facebook and/or Twitter account. From keywords and by analysing content and activity, the bot attempts to simulate the presence of the user, and improve it by feeding their account and creating new contact with other users. Social networks are the first medium to show statistically the social prowess of a person (e.g. number of friends on Facebook or followers on Twitter). For many users, reaching the expected success can become a time-consuming and difficult task, especially when human factors such as shyness, introversion or feelings of worthlessness are present.
On contrary to many existing bot services, rep.licants.org bots are not created with a blank character, but will be added to the real account of the user. They act as some kind of virtual prosthesis, helping users who are handicapped by their lack of social skills.
Due to an unexpected high number of subscriptions (more than 5'000) and complaints from Facebook, the project had to be shut down in 2014.
