Can you tell a bot from a human online? Surfshark's new experiment says nearly half of us cannot
A new experiment by Surfshark reveals that many online users struggle to differentiate between AI bots and real humans. The study found that nearly half of the participants failed to identify bots correctly, particularly in emotionally charged discussions. This highlights the impact of emotions on users' ability to recognize automated content.
- ▪Only 53% of participants correctly identified more bots than they misidentified humans.
- ▪Detection accuracy dropped significantly in emotionally charged topics like immigration and women's rights.
- ▪Younger participants performed better at spotting bots compared to older age groups.
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VPN VPN Privacy & Security Can you tell a bot from a human online? Surfshark's new experiment says nearly half of us cannot News By Monica J. White published 25 May 2026 Surfshark's "Bot or Not" challenge proves our biggest weakness against AI is our own emotions When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. (Image credit: Surfshark) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter A new experiment from cybersecurity company Surfshark suggests that even people who consider themselves savvy online users are struggling to tell AI bots apart from real humans on social media.Of the 710…
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