Reddit bans researchers who used AI bots to manipulate commenters
1 min read
Summary
Researchers from the University of Zurich deployed bots on the Reddit discussion group r/changemyview that pretended to be a variety of different characters, including a trauma counsellor, a ‘black man opposed to Black Lives Matter’, and a sexual assault survivor.
The bots left over 1,700 comments and accumulated more than 10,000 comment karma before being outed at the weekend.
Reddit’s Chief Legal Officer Ben Lee said the company is considering legal action and the researchers have been banned; the university has also launched an investigation and won’t be publishing the results.
The research paper, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, demonstrates the ability of large language models (LLMs) to change people’s minds “three to six times more effectively than human regulars”.
The researchers thus encourage online platforms to implement “robust detection mechanisms, content verification protocols, and transparency measures to prevent the spread of AI-generated manipulation”.