I think we need to critically re-evaluate what is it exactly we are doing on the internet, how we do it, and examine existing assumptions. For instance, do we really need all services to be centralised? Do we really need services to be "free" (part of the payment is selling your data ok). A server serving static files doesn't care about bot users, but apps... why would you let a stranger use your cpu/ram over the internet? I know i am not providing an answer but i believe we need to take a look again at all of these before we try to come up with an answer
Who are "we" and what are "we" going to do with the answer once "we" come up with it?
For example, there is a someone's personal blog, which is beset by comment spammers. The blog's owner is tired of deleting spammy comments, and do not want their comment section to look like garbage bin, so they want some bot protection. The website's author is not that technical, so they do some googling and install reCaptcha (or cloudflare) and this cuts off bad comments to 1/week, which is easy to clean manually.
So in that story, who should be re-evaluating what, and what answer do you expect?
(keep in mind the blog's author cannot host their own captcha service / AI bot detector, as they are not proficient enough to install all the required dependencies for such a complex task, nor is their VPS powerful enough to keep it running.)
"we" is another word for "the people building the systems living on the web"
Once, "we" come up with the answer we are going to build based on the newly defined assumptions.
Here is what critically re-examining everything means: Do i really need to have a comment section? And if I do, shall I be the one responsible for managing it's technical infrastructure? The answer could be to use an off-the-shelf solution in your particular story. When you pivot to the side of the off-the-shelf solution developers who actually needs to do the spam filtering, then answers may differ, as will assumptions.
Edit: What are your thoughts of the mechanism hacker news have used to reduce bot comments?
