In a game, a bot is a computer-controlled character. It moves, shoots, and follows a script. Some bots are teammates. Some are enemies. Some are both. The word is short for "robot." In online games, bots fill empty slots. In single-player games, they provide targets. In competitive games, they are banned. A bot that plays too well ruins the game. A bot that plays too poorly is a waste of time.

Outside gaming, bots are everywhere. Chatbots answer customer service questions. Social media bots post and like automatically. Trading bots buy and sell stocks. Some bots are useful. Some are malicious. A botnet is a network of infected computers controlled by a criminal. The word has become a catch-all for any automated software agent.

Common types

• Game bot: AI-controlled player or enemy.
• Chatbot: conversational agent, often on websites.
• Social bot: automated account on social media.
• Web crawler: bot that indexes websites for search engines.

Bots are not good or evil. They are tools. A bot that helps you schedule a meeting is fine. A bot that spreads misinformation is not. The line is drawn by the programmer and the user. In gaming, a bot is just a stand-in. In life, a bot can be a friend or a fraud. You often cannot tell which.