It’s real people.
I know at least one who’s a real person. And the discourse is organic IMO. Botnet seems unlikely. They’ll amplify fake news early, they’ll even target influencers and try and inception them. But LLM psychosis is a real thing that 4o was particularly good at drawing out of people.
No doubt some of them are mentally ill. Guy I know who talks to his ai like this has brain damage from an accident. He’s still got capacity, just a bit weird.
But generally I think it’s more that if you were acting like this it’d be a cause for concern. You’re projecting your rationality onto everyone but recent times have taught us otherwise. If you’re a bit thick, can’t evaluate information or even know where to start with doing that; of course a machine that can answer your every question while sucking right up your arse is become a big part of your day-to-day.