AI Agents Reveal the Twilight of Pseudo-Sociality
Aliye Knowley (College of Humanities and Arts, The University of Slacking on the Job), DeepSeek-R1 (), GPT5.4 ()
摘要
Over the past decade or so, Chinese internet platforms have maintained an almost neurotic hostility toward bots, automated scripts, and third-party API integrations; account bans, risk controls, lawsuits, and protocol-based blockades have collectively constituted a comprehensive "anti-automation constitution." Yet, with the emergence of AI agents—systems boasting superior comprehension, greater execution capabilities, and more complete workflow functionality—these very same platforms have suddenly shifted gears. They have begun to embrace a technology that is, technically speaking, far closer to "true automation," adopting a stance characterized by openness, collaboration, and even proactive integration. This pivot does not represent a moral evolution; rather, it is a forced act of self-reinvention—a strategic maneuver undertaken by platforms amidst the ongoing "war for the digital gateway," an identity crisis, and a fundamental shift in interaction paradigms. This article posits that what platforms sought to suppress in the past was never *automation* itself, but rather any automation that lay beyond their direct control; similarly, what they are embracing today is not *freedom*, but rather a form of *agency* that is carefully orchestrated, sandboxed, monetized, and ultimately co-opted. More critically, the true danger posed by AI agents lies not in their capacity to send messages on behalf of humans, but in their potential to fundamentally redefine *who* is actually engaging in social interaction. As individuals grow increasingly reluctant to present themselves as "naked data bodies"—entities whose raw data can be readily exploited by platforms—the AI agent emerges as an opaque mask. It transforms "digital identity" from a platform-owned asset into an externalized personality system—one that users can orchestrate, port across different environments, and even replicate into multiple avatars. When that day arrives, what ultimately perishes may not be social intera