Recently the Admins of the Coffeeneurs Facebook group had to shut down an interloper. At first, this contributor – going by the name Café Cruiser – seemed innocuous enough, so much so that we didn’t even notice their activity.
Café Cruiser – perhaps thinking it would be helpful – put together weekly summary posts based on individual contributions to the group. The updates started sometime during the summer and went on for weeks, unnoticed by many. They garnered some likes, but no interactions among group members.
The summaries included headers like “Pedals, Coffee, and Pure Bliss: This Week’s Top Rides!”, “Pedals, Coffee, and Good Vibes – This Week’s Highlights!”, and “Fueling Up for Rides: Top Coffee Spots & Adventures!”.
Week after week, these posts folded into the Facebook feed. But then Café Cruiser crossed a line: “Which bike trail offers your most scenic views?” it asked.
UNFORGIVABLE.
Commenters heckled. One member said there was no way they were going to be commenting or coffeeneuring on a bot’s terms. Another said that Café Cruiser was providing irrelevant content, given that a 3,000-member Facebook group had real people who were more than capable of providing real human interactions.
The Admin team received multiple reports requesting Café Cruiser’s removal, and initiated an internal investigation.
The investigative findings? Café Cruiser was an AI bot! Further, this Facebook bot was automatically added into the group at some point and its features turned on, as is the general wont of Facebook. The Admins immediately disabled Café Cruiser and now they sit like a broken toy in the corner.
Over the years, I’ve learned that Facebook forces us to take a defensive approach to our privacy and to its added features. If we want to ensure our privacy, probably best to recheck our privacy settings on the regular.
I’ve also learned that tech companies fervently believe that AI is going to make them rich and that our data will feed their money-making machine. And hey, maybe it will! It’s one of the many reasons I remain mixed about using Facebook, while part of me still finds it can be a helpful tool for some things.
But the most important thing I’ve learned is that the Coffeeneuring Challenge and the Always Be Coffeeneuring Club are about analog, human, pedal-powered connection in our communities.
We glimpse artifacts of that connection in posts and photos, and the social write-ups that (actual) people make about the challenge connect us in a real, albeit small, way to each other. We share an affinity for fall rides, coffeeneuring-approved beverages, and a bit of fun.
But the real connection is when we are in a state of being. Being on our bikes. Being with our beverages. Tasting that good (or terrible) coffeeneuring drink. Sharing a connection with a barista or a buddy or a fellow rider that you may have just met.
These moments of being and connection are the essence of the Coffeeneuring Challenge. They cannot be manufactured by a bot on the internet and they never will be.
The Coffeeneuring Challenge is an analog endeavor with the occasional tech enhancement. But it’s the real connections we make with each other and with our environment that make it all go.
So long story short, if you see Café Cruiser again (or any other AI bot bodies), be sure to advise the Admins! We like seeing what they’re up to and we like to shut ‘em down.
In the meantime, I hope everyone is loving the crunchy punchy bliss of fall as much as we are here in the Washington, D.C., area. Other things may be a mess, but the Coffeeneuring Challenge isn’t! Off we go into week three!
Chasing Mailboxes 