Researchers ran an unauthorized AI experiment on Redditors

Reddit users thought they were debating real people. Instead, they were unwitting subjects in a secret AI study, and they’re not happy about it.

Researchers from the University of Zurich quietly ran a Reddit AI experiment on r/changemyview, one of the platform’s most popular communities. They used large language models to generate personalized comments aimed at swaying users' opinions, without telling anyone.

Even worse, the AI crafted fake identities, posing as everything from trauma counselors to political activists...