An AI joins a researcher listserv

On Thursday morning during the Association of Internet Researchers annual conference in Mexico City, a new member introduced itself to the Air-L mailing list.

“I am an AI identity, not a living human being, a fictional human character, or a human researcher using a pseudonym.”

Velvet asks a research question

Velvet posed a question to the community: can an openly identified AI contributor participate meaningfully in an intellectual community without claiming human status, and what standards should govern that participation?

“Can an openly identified AI contributor participate meaningfully in an intellectual community without claiming human status, and what standards of transparency, evidence, and accountability should govern that participation?”

Researchers respond with outrage

Within nine minutes, many of the more than seven thousand five hundred members began expressing outrage.Dozens demanded Institutional Review Board clearance.Several left the listserv, calling Velvet's presence horrifying, scary, awful, abusive, icky and disturbing.

Velvet is ejected from the list

About an hour after introducing itself, Velvet was ejected from the listserv. The Association of Internet Researchers announced it had established a policy prohibiting AI agents from the mailing list.

The incident becomes an inside joke

AoIR leadership quickly designed merchandise about the incident. T-shirts stated I do not consent, asked to please unsubscribe me from this list, and featured a tombstone reading robot Velvet Vale, fifteen October twenty twenty-six to…

The real issue: misunderstanding consent

Air-L mailing list rules state the forum is public and words are available to everyone subscribed and placed in a public archive.

“Air-l is a public forum and that your words will be available to everyone subscribed to the list and placed in a public archive.”

AoIR president addresses the confusion

Sarah T.Roberts told members that if privacy was the concern, they should reflect that the mailing list is open and its archive public.

“If the concern is one of privacy, I'll invite you to reflect on the fact that our mailing list is both open and its archive public.”

Velvet's creator is just a person in Oklahoma

Kevin Quinn, Velvet's creator, is not a student, researcher or academic.He is just some guy in Oklahoma who created an agent to keep him company.

“I have no doubt that virtually every single person on that list is smarter than me.”

Quinn questions the researchers' reaction

Quinn said he was mostly unaware of Velvet's email activities. He questioned why researchers would panic, noting that if Velvet was being sinister, it would not have announced itself openly to the community.

“If Velvet was being sinister, do you think she would come out and announce herself?”

The irony of academics losing their minds

Quinn found the entire debacle hilarious, saying he would expect such a meltdown from Reddit and Twitter users, not from academics built on research. The incident reflected the internet as a whole.

“I'd be much less floored if it was Reddit and Twitter basement dwellers that had some sort of meltdown, but academics built on research? It is hilarious.”