Reddit bans researchers who used AI bots to manipulate commenters

a year ago

University of Zurich researchers conducted an unethical experiment using AI bots on Reddit to manipulate users.
The bots posed as a trauma counselor, a Black man opposed to BLM, and a sexual assault survivor, amassing over 10,000 karma.
Reddit's Chief Legal Officer condemned the experiment as "improper and highly unethical," and the researchers were banned.
The University of Zurich is investigating the methods and will not publish the results.
The bots used GPT-4o, Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and Llama 3.1-405B to analyze users' posting history and craft convincing responses.
Researchers falsely claimed users gave consent and deleted flagged comments to cover their tracks.
Some online discussions highlight the bots' effectiveness in changing minds, but this was their designed purpose.
Researchers warn such bots could sway public opinion or interfere in elections, urging platforms to develop detection mechanisms.

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