US EditionUniversity of Zurich Researchers Conduct Unauthorized AI Experiment on Reddit
- Researchers affiliated with the University of Zurich conducted an unauthorized AI experiment on the Reddit forum r/changemyview, using bots to engage users without consent.
- The moderators of r/changemyview filed an ethics complaint requesting disciplinary action and a public apology after discovering the experiment, which lasted four months.
- Reddit's chief legal officer, Ben Lee, condemned the experiment as "improper and highly unethical," stating it violated moral and legal standards.
- In response to the incident, the university's Ethics Committee plans to implement stricter oversight and community coordination for future research studies.
64 Articles
64 Articles
AI bots outsmart Reddit debaters in secret experiment—Internet reacts with outrage - Tech Startups
Imagine winning a heated debate on Reddit’s r/ChangeMyView, stacking up karma points, only to learn your opponent wasn’t a person at all. It was an AI bot, posing as a trauma counselor or political activist, engineered to persuade and blend […] The post AI bots outsmart Reddit debaters in secret experiment—Internet reacts with outrage first appeared on Tech Startups.
Researchers admit posting AI-generated content on Reddit to influence people
Users were not informed they were interacting (Picture: Getty/Reddit) Reddit users became unwitting subjects of a social experiment, when researchers flooded their forum with AI-generated content to see how they reacted. The bots sent replies posing as real people in r/ChangeMyView, a popular subreddit where users invite counter arguments to their opinions. It was for a research study about how persuasive chatbots could be, in light of concerns …
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