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A team of researchers from the University of Zurich conducted a months-long AI experiment on the r/changemyview subreddit, which boasts 3.8 million members, without obtaining user consent.

The researchers embarked on a covert experiment that leveraged AI-generated comments to subtly influence Reddit users without their awareness or permission.

The study was carried out in the r/changemyview subreddit, renowned for its civil discussions, where the researchers utilized large language models (LLMs) to craft personalized and persuasive replies under the guise of actual users, aiming to assess AI’s capability to sway opinions.

Key Details

• AI-generated comments were posted to manipulate user opinions while pretending to be real individuals.
• The personas included trauma survivors and contentious political figures.
• The AI tailored its replies using personal data extracted from users’ histories.
• None of these activities were disclosed, violating both subreddit and broader Reddit policies.

This initiative went beyond mere bot usage.

It constituted a form of psychological manipulation that harnessed personal data to investigate the effectiveness of AI in altering people’s viewpoints.

Ben Lee, Reddit’s Chief Legal Officer, described this as “deeply wrong from both a moral and legal perspective” and confirmed that Reddit is considering formal legal action.

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

Response from the Researchers

The researchers assert that their ethics board approved the project and contend that their objective was to highlight potential misuses of AI, such as manipulating elections or promoting hate speech.

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