Reddit was duped by artificial intelligence (AI) bots manipulating users. Now, it’s rolling out “prove you’re human” checks to protect its authenticity.
Since the birth of the interwebs, we’ve enjoyed participating in discussions on forums with other humans, diving into threads about gaming, crypto, and UFOs.
For two decades, Reddit has been a fun place to debate, compare, and chew the fat.
But imagine opening your favorite subreddit to wax your political views, only to discover that you were debating with a PhD student’s AI experiment.
These AI bots mined communicative data to shape opinions under the bonnet, forcing Reddit to apply a “prove you’re human” CAPTCHA.
This happened recently on r/changemyview – a subreddit meant to gain different perspectives – where University of Zurich researchers deployed bots trained in human nuance to convincingly alter opinions without being detected.
They did this without consent and didn’t reveal it until the researchers published a preprint (a non-peer-reviewed research paper) exposing weeks of secret interactions.
The Reddit moderators were incensed and called the practice “deceptive and manipulative.” The researchers stepped right into a digital ethics firestorm.
On one hand, this experiment feels psychologically manipulative, interfering with a cultivated slice of Reddit and breaking the trust of four million members. On the other hand, it’s a quiet call to arms to get the conversation moving on AI-driven narratives in human discussions.
A necessary safeguard?
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman stepped in with the expected remark: “Our focus is, and always will be, on keeping Reddit a trusted place for human conversation.”
Reddit will roll out new measures to prove you’re human, while still keeping the right to remain anonymous.
At this point, it’s unclear whether this kind of policing will actually filter out AI users or discourage the casual participation that makes Reddit Reddit.
A strange atmosphere is brewing. In one of the internet’s most authentic forums, users might start calling each other out, wondering: “Are you even real?”
It hasn’t gotten there yet, but maybe Reddit’s new verification tools will sniff out future digital catfishing.
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