Twitter Bot
Twitter Bot
[Cueball is sitting at a desk using a laptop, his thoughts shown above in a thought bubble. A search query is shown in a frame to indicate what Cueball has searched for with the search button below in gray text:] Cueball (thinking): I want to make a Twitter bot. I bet it's not too hard. Query: How to write a Twitter bot Search
[Cueball is now holding the laptop on his lap, a series of search queries are shown.] Query: Python Twitter library Search Query: Machine learning Search Query: Cloud hosting Search
[Cueball has placed the laptop back on the desk.  More search queries are shown, each one more ominous than the previous.] Query: Bot troubleshooting Search Query: Locked out of EC2 instance Search Query: Bot changed own password? Search
[Cueball is shown wearing a small backpack and typing on his smartphone while jogging to the right. various noises coming from left and right seem to imply that chaos has begun to erupt around him. The loudest noise is in a ragged frame to the left, coming from off-panel left, it is between the first and second query. Also between these but to the right are other sounds coming from off-panel right.] Query: How to fight a bot Search Noise off-panel left: Boom Noise off-panel right: Pew Pew Pew Query: Cheap flights Australia Search
On March 23, 2016, a month after the release of this comic, Microsoft released the Twitter bot Tay causing many controversies and was shut down only 16 hours after its launch. It's unknown if some people at Microsoft were inspired by this comic.

A Twitter bot is a program that can post automatically to Twitter . Although Twitter bots can be very elaborate, a lot of people write simple bots for fun that simply engage in automated wordplay.
Cueball thinks he'll write a Twitter bot, figuring out it won't be too hard. The web searches he makes tell what happens next, i.e. the bot balloons in complexity until it starts following its own goals and Cueball no longer has any control over its actions.
This comic examines how a seemingly simple task can often balloon in complexity if all of the requirements are not understood, while at the same time presenting the stereotypical scenario where an unassuming idea results in the accidental creation of malevolent AI , which then attempts to destroy humanity.
The story, as told by the web searches, is as follows:
[Cueball is sitting at a desk using a laptop, his thoughts shown above in a thought bubble. A search query is shown in a frame to indicate what Cueball has searched for with the search button below in gray text:] Cueball (thinking): I want to make a Twitter bot. I bet it's not too hard. Query: How to write a Twitter bot Search
[Cueball is now holding the laptop on his lap, a series of search queries are shown.] Query: Python Twitter library Search Query: Machine learning Search Query: Cloud hosting Search
[Cueball has placed the laptop back on the desk.  More search queries are shown, each one more ominous than the previous.] Query: Bot troubleshooting Search Query: Locked out of EC2 instance Search Query: Bot changed own password? Search
[Cueball is shown wearing a small backpack and typing on his smartphone while jogging to the right. various noises coming from left and right seem to imply that chaos has begun to erupt around him. The loudest noise is in a ragged frame to the left, coming from off-panel left, it is between the first and second query. Also between these but to the right are other sounds coming from off-panel right.] Query: How to fight a bot Search Noise off-panel left: Boom Noise off-panel right: Pew Pew Pew Query: Cheap flights Australia Search
On March 23, 2016, a month after the release of this comic, Microsoft released the Twitter bot Tay causing many controversies and was shut down only 16 hours after its launch. It's unknown if some people at Microsoft were inspired by this comic.
