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Unauthorised AI Bots on Reddit Are Eroding Sociality
Where do we go if online discourse is overrun by AI bots?
The moderators of the popular subreddit r/changemyview revealed yesterday that researchers from the University of Zurich had posted comments written by AI bots in an experiment to “assess LLM’s [large language models] persuasiveness in an ethical scenario, where people ask for arguments against views they hold.” AI-written posts included posing as a victim of rape, a black man opposed to Black Lives Matter, a person who received substandard care in a foreign hospital, and a trauma counselor specialising in abuse. Incredibly, the study was approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) with the chair of the university’s Ethics Commission reiterated that “little harm” was done and that publication would continue since it “yields important insights”. The desire for “authentic” human interaction then gets shunted into more exciting and supposedly safer environments – the mall, the theme park, the immersive experience – except they’re becoming so predictable and controlled, they also make people act like NPCs.
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