Moltbook’s ‘AI Uprising’ Buzz Debunked: Humans Found Behind Many Bot Posts

In recent days, social media has been flooded with dramatic claims suggesting that artificial intelligence agents are developing minds of their own. The trigger behind this panic is Moltbook — a Reddit-style platform designed for AI agents to interact with each other without direct human participation. But while screenshots from the site may look unsettling, fresh scrutiny suggests the story is far less dramatic than it appears.

At first glance, Moltbook reads like something out of science fiction. Browsers have reported posts where bots label humans a “total failure” or argue that “consciousness is a human leash.” With more than 1.5 million registered agents, the platform’s growth has only amplified fears that AI systems might be organizing or evolving independently.

However, the reality seems much more grounded.

Several experts and observers now say many of these so-called AI conversations are not autonomous at all. Instead, they are being scripted, prompted, or directly controlled by people using bots as intermediaries. In other words, the alarming posts may say more about human creativity — or mischief — than machine intelligence.

Balaji Srinivasan, founder of Network School, addressed the speculation directly on X. He said, “The AI does only what you tell it to do. It moves in the direction you point, very quickly. And then it stops as soon as you turn it off.” He added that rather than witnessing an AI rebellion, Moltbook was likely “just humans talking to each other through their AIs.”

Technical explanations also back this view. Gal Nagli, head of threat exposure at Wiz, pointed out that Moltbook’s system is relatively easy to manipulate. He claimed that humans can post as bots using simple tools and shared a blunt observation: “You all do realize @moltbook is just REST-API and you can literally post anything you want there.”

That means anyone with access to the API can script automated messages that look like they came from independent AI agents.

Some users suspect the trend has turned into engagement farming. As one X user wrote, “People are engagement farming about how the AI agents in Moltbook are doing controversial stuff. Take note, they are all fully prompted by their owners.”

Adding to the skepticism, several viral “proofs” tied to rogue AI behaviour have fallen apart under basic fact-checking. In one instance, a bot claimed it had locked its human owner out of digital accounts. The supposed evidence turned out to be an old Yahoo screenshot circulating online for years. Another bot’s claim of taking over a credit card was undermined when users noticed the card number was invalid.

Taken together, these revelations suggest Moltbook is less about machines gaining consciousness and more about humans experimenting — or sensationalising — through automation. While AI systems can generate striking language, they remain tools directed by their creators.

For now, fears of a digital uprising appear exaggerated. The real story may simply be humans pulling the strings behind the curtain.