(1) For industrial and humanoid robots, see
robot.
(2) For AI-based applications that answer questions and generate media, see
chatbot.
(3) For a network of compromised computers, see
botnet and
botcloud.
(4) For software that indexes the Web, see
crawler.
(5) (BOT) (
Beginning
Of
Tape) The status of a magnetic tape file when it is first mounted in the drive. See
BOF.
(6) (BOT) (
Bulk-
Only
Transport) An early USB protocol for external storage drives. See
UASP.
(7) For search engine bots that find information on the Web, see
crawler and
scraping.
(8) For social media bots, see
social bot.
(9) For software that searches for good deals, see
scalper bot,
trader bot and
crypto bot.
(10) For software that captures email addresses, see
spambot.
(11) For software that counters bots that fill in forms on websites, see
CAPTCHA.
(12) (ro
BOT) A program that performs a repetitive function 24/7 or waits in the background to be triggered by an event (time of day, receipt of data, etc.). The term bot is used for myriad "intelligent agents" on the Web, and it is estimated that a third of traffic over the Internet comes from bots and not humans. A bot can be programmed to do almost anything from posting a message to starting up or closing down other software processes, and it can run in a user's machine or server.