Registration applications (which are pretty much required on all lemmy servers now) have stopped about 95% of them. Some still get through of course, but the admins of every server are doing hard work to prevent it.
The other 5% are quickly discovered and reported, and they can be banned (and their content removed), at the click of a button.
The LLMs are getting creative with how they answer, and people also are applying with half of the responses LLM based, and half real. But its still not hard to spot them when they give all the same predictable answers.
Its interesting because applications are how the old forum-internet used to keep out bots and trolls, and its still the best method to this day. There’s still work to be done, and it’s a never-ending battle, but I think overall we’re winning and doing better than western surveillance platforms like reddit, youtube, or facebook.














Just from experience as an admin reviewing applications, bots are nowhere near replicants. 98% of bots can’t make an application without using obvious phrases like “I’d like to engage in meaningful discussions”.