A law banning Altbot has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use Altbot for now.
We are fortunate that President @micr0 has indicated that they will work with us on a solution to reinstate Altbot once they takes office. Please stay tuned!
Recently, Altbot has been targeted by DDoS attacks. While the motive is unclear, it seems tied to a misguided belief that the bot’s alt-text generation is harmful to the environment. Let me set the record straight.
Altbot uses Gemini-1.5-flash, a specifically low-power AI model. Processing a single alt-text request consumes around 0.0005 kWh, meaning that in the 4 months since I created Altbot—and tens of thousands of alt-text entries generated—it has consumed roughly 10 kWh in total. That’s about the same energy as running a single LED light bulb nonstop for 41 days or driving an electric car just 40 miles.
These DDoS attacks, however, have already consumed more electricity and computing power than Altbot has across its entire existence... in a matter of hours. This means the attacks have caused more environmental harm than the very thing they seem to be protesting.
Altbot exists to improve accessibility on Mastodon, not to harm the environment. Accessibility and sustainability can coexist, and I’m committed to keeping Altbot energy-efficient and purposeful.
If there are concerns, I encourage constructive dialogue—not destructive actions that undermine both inclusivity and sustainability.
Thank you to everyone supporting Altbot’s mission of making the Fediverse more accessible for all.
Recently, Altbot has been targeted by DDoS attacks. While the motive is unclear, it seems tied to a misguided belief that the bot’s alt-text generation is harmful to the environment. Let me set the record straight.
Altbot uses Gemini-1.5-flash, a specifically low-power AI model. Processing a single alt-text request consumes around 0.0005 kWh, meaning that in the 4 months since I created Altbot—and tens of thousands of alt-text entries generated—it has consumed roughly 10 kWh in total. That’s about...
TL;DR:
Altbot, an opt-in accessibility tool using a low-power AI model, has consumed only 10 kWh of energy in its 4 months of operation—equivalent to running an LED light for 41 days. Recent DDoS attacks against Altbot, ironically, caused far more environmental harm in just a few hours than the bot has in its entire existence. Let’s prioritize constructive dialogue over destructive actions to support both accessibility and sustainability.
@micr0 also as someone who sometimes has to use image recognition algorithms for this purpose I find altbot preferable to doing it personally - because if and when it is wrong (and it often is) it is not public information... Unlike altbot who shares it for all to see and a human tends to then provide more correct information...
someone posted about getting Comcast to give them more upload bandwidth somehow and i can't find that post. I have been paying for the more expensive plan just to get at least 20mbps up... and apparently you can say some stuff to have a normal plan with good upload speeds,
i really want to find the person who posted about that, i don't want to keep overpaying, please tell me how
@micr0 they are probably talking about Comcast's mid split network rollout which dedicates more DOCSIS spectrum to upload channels. They have to roll the change out locally for you to get it, and they paywall it behind Xfi complete.
Gregory's Server
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A law banning Altbot has been enacted in the U.S. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use Altbot for now.
We are fortunate that President @micr0 has indicated that they will work with us on a solution to reinstate Altbot once they takes office. Please stay tuned!