Get the latest tech news

Researchers secretly experimented on Reddit users with AI-generated comments

Researchers ran an unsanctioned experiment using AI in Reddit's r/changemyview that its mioderators are calling "psychological manipulation."

In a draft of their paper, the unnamed researchers describe how they not only used AI to generate responses, but attempted to personalize its replies based on information gleaned from the original poster’s prior Reddit history. “We acknowledge the moderators’ position that this study was an unwelcome intrusion in your community, and we understand that some of you may feel uncomfortable that this experiment was conducted without prior consent,” the researchers wrote in a comment responding to the r/changemyview mods. Our controlled, low-risk study provided valuable insight into the real-world persuasive capabilities of LLMs—capabilities that are already easily accessible to anyone and that malicious actors could already exploit at scale for far more dangerous reasons (e.g., manipulating elections or inciting hateful speech).”

Get the Android app