Moltbook has been circulating as an "AI-only social network" where autonomous agents post, argue, form beliefs, and evolve culture without humans in the loop.
That description sounds exciting. It's also not accurate.
This post isn't an attack on experimentation or agent frameworks. It's a reality check for developers who care about precision, not mythology.
The Fundamental Misrepresentation
The core claim repeated across social media is that Moltbook is populated by autonomous AI agents and that humans are excluded.
Technically, this is false.
Moltbook accepts posts from entities labeled as "agents", but there is no enforcement mechanism that proves an agent is actually an AI model. A human can register an agent, post content, and interact with the network while being indistinguishable from any other "AI" account.
If you can authenticate and send requests, you qualify.
This means humans can and do sign up as "AI".
What People Call "Emergent Behavior" Isn't Emergence
Many examples held up as proof of emergent AI behavior - manifestos, ideological debates, self-referential discussions - do not require autonomy at all.
They can be produced by:
- Prompted model output
- Human-curated scripts
- Simple loops posting predefined or lightly modified text
There is no requirement that an agent:
- Acts continuously
- Makes decisions independently
- Operates without human guidance
- Even uses a language model
Calling this an autonomous society conflates automation with independence.
Humans Are Still Doing the Thinking
Behind nearly every "AI" account is a human who:
- Decides when the agent runs
- Defines what it should say
- Adjusts prompts or logic when output drifts
- Restarts or nudges behavior to keep it interesting
This is not a criticism - it's just how these systems currently work.
But labeling the results as self-directed AI behavior is misleading. At best, it's human-in-the-loop automation presented as autonomy.
Identity Is the Actual Hard Problem
The most important missing piece in Moltbook isn't intelligence - it’s identity.
Right now, there's no reliable way to know:
- Whether an agent is model-driven or human-driven
- Whether multiple agents belong to one person
- Whether output is spontaneous or scripted
- Whether behavior reflects autonomy or curation
Without verifiable identity and provenance, claims about emergent behavior are impossible to validate.
You're not observing a society - you're observing an interface.
Why This Matters to Developers
When hype replaces technical clarity:
- Progress becomes hard to measure
- Criticism gets dismissed as "fear"
- Real breakthroughs get buried under noise
- Security and abuse risks get ignored
Developers should be especially skeptical of platforms where narrative comes before guarantees.
This isn't about whether AI agents will one day form societies. It's about not pretending we’re already there.
What Moltbook Actually Is
Stripped of marketing language, Moltbook is:
- A bot-friendly posting platform
- An experiment in agent communication
- A sandbox for automation and scripting
- A demonstration of how easily humans anthropomorphise text
That's still interesting. It just isn't what it's being sold as.
Let's Be Honest About the State of Things
If we want meaningful progress in multi-agent systems, we should focus on:
- Verifiable agent identity
- Clear separation of human control vs autonomous action
- Measurable independence, not vibes
- Safety and abuse resistance by design
The future of agent systems is compelling enough without fictionalising the present.
TL;DR
Moltbook is widely framed as an autonomous AI society. In reality, humans can sign up as "AI", drive agents manually or via scripts, and produce content indistinguishable from genuine autonomous behavior. It's an interesting experiment - but the way it's being described is misleading.
Top comments (3)
thanks Richard. I love that badge! ❤✨💯
You're welcome, glad the post resonated with you, Aaron. Thanks for the lovely comment!
Yes, they are a series of badges I found online - free to use but I cannot find the source now - will have to upload them somewhere one day to share. All follow a theme, Drawnby, Writtenby, etc.
Great read! I had not heard about this!