Why are robots viewing threads?

Just curious. Don't answer if you don't want to. Can't get rid of them? They're legitimate?

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Look at who's on-line; there's a tab for robots; Google, Bing, etc ones are viewing threads.

 

These bots are the seekers of content on the Internet, they are a key part in how search engines operate.

 

Exactly and they are sneaky little boogers to boot . HRP

 

I thought we were the robots

 

Oh, I thought the Chinese sent them.....