Workdesc::

Bots operate at the intersection of technical infrastructure and social agenthood. Although they

follow strict rules dictated by platform specificity, their status of autonomy sets them apart from

regular tools. Wikipedia bots, especially, are measured in terms of utility. In order for a bot to be

allowed to run, its operator has to make an appeal to a specific congregation made up of mostly

other bot operators, called the Bot Approval Group. This social gathering will then determine

whether the bot qualifies as a member of the bot user group.

However, despite the fact that they are defined by their purpose within the community, often these

bots' role becomes obfuscated through the process of anthropomorphisation. In situations when the

bot is no longer useful, the machine on which it was once hosted is not in service anymore, or their

operator no longer has the time to maintain it, the bot will be 'retired'. Te humanizing effect of

such language points out to a deeper question: what is the purpose of the bot after it has fulfilled its

job? What can the bot tell us about the community it was once a part of?