{"id":93871,"date":"2025-05-11T23:08:10","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T23:08:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/93871\/"},"modified":"2025-05-11T23:08:10","modified_gmt":"2025-05-11T23:08:10","slug":"half-of-the-internet-is-bots-and-theyre-feeding-you-lies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/93871\/","title":{"rendered":"Half of the internet is bots and they\u2019re feeding you lies"},"content":{"rendered":"

AI-powered misinformation is taking over the internet. Calgary-based Koat.ai is tracking it in real time.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A recent report<\/a> from cybersecurity company Imperva claims that more than half of all internet traffic now comes from non-human sources, or bots.<\/p>\n

That stat is worthy of discussion on its own, but I want you to focus on another one: over a third of all internet traffic is now bad bots\u2014malicious automated actors.<\/p>\n

What are these bad actors doing online? Disinformation and defamation campaigns, targeting businesses and governments with \u2018irregular warfare\u2019 to manipulate markets and elections.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cBad actors are weaponizing AI faster than governments and enterprises are using AI to combat it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

We\u2019ve all known for some time that was happening, right? Anyone who goes online has seen a bot posting garbage, and the government regularly tracks<\/a> the impact of these tools on our democratic process.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But are we really aware of the scale of the issue? And do we know what bots are after?<\/p>\n

This week, we talk to Connor Ross, co-founder and president of Calgary-based Koat.ai<\/a>, which provides real-time intelligence monitoring for businesses and governments. Founded in 2021, the early-stage company already has a Big Six bank on its client list.<\/p>\n

Koat.ai claims its technology can decipher real and fake account activity online within 10 seconds of a post being made. This is super cool tech, which we dig into on the podcast, but again, it is not where I hope you place the majority of your attention.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On this episode, Ross explains how the rise in malicious bots is being driven by AI, and how bad actors have weaponized AI faster than governments and enterprises can combat it. He also explains why the global social media platforms, which are aware of the scale of the issue, aren\u2019t really doing anything to stop it.<\/p>\n

Perhaps more importantly, Ross explains what these bad actors are after and how they go about achieving it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You see, it\u2019s not about a bunch of fake accounts posting garbage to the internet; it\u2019s about fake accounts posting garbage to the internet that real people consume, amplify, and act on. And according to Ross, this approach is very effective, and very dangerous.<\/p>\n

So half of the internet is bots, and they\u2019re feeding you lies. What do we do about it?<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s dig in.<\/p>\n

PRESENTED BY<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The BetaKit Podcast is presented by OVHcloud<\/a>:<\/strong> the global cloud provider trusted by innovators worldwide.<\/p>\n

OVHcloud offers transparent, sovereign cloud solutions designed to help you build on your own terms\u2014without vendor lock-in or hidden fees. With over 80 services available, you can build and scale your infrastructure confidently, knowing your data is hosted in Canada and supported by 44 data centres globally.<\/p>\n

Whether you\u2019re launching your first product or scaling a platform, OVHcloud puts you back in control of your digital journey\u2013with performance that never blinks.<\/p>\n

Visit ovhcloud.com<\/a> to get started with trusted cloud built for scale.<\/p>\n

The BetaKit Podcast is edited by\u00a0Darian MacDonald. Feature image courtesy Igor Omilaev via Unsplash<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AI-powered misinformation is taking over the internet. Calgary-based Koat.ai is tracking it in real time. A recent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":93872,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3161],"tags":[323,6934,44197,32374,44198,44195,13071,3082,44194,2845,18003,4120,53,44196,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-93871","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-internet","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-alberta","10":"tag-bad-bot-report","11":"tag-bots","12":"tag-calgary","13":"tag-connor-ross","14":"tag-disinformation","15":"tag-internet","16":"tag-koat-ai","17":"tag-misinformation","18":"tag-prairies","19":"tag-saas","20":"tag-technology","21":"tag-the-betakit-podcast","22":"tag-uk","23":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114491719907028885","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/93872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}