Reddit’s well-known debate community, r/ChangeMyView (CMV), has become embroiled in an escalating controversy after moderators announced that it had unwittingly hosted a secret AI experiment. It lasted four months.
Conducted by a group of unnamed researchers reportedly linked to the University of Zurich, the research employed AI-created answers to influence users’ views without their awareness or consent.
Researchers Used AI Bots With Fabricated Histories
AI-Powered Bots Secretly Invade Reddit’s r/ChangeMyView in Controversial Study
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As spotted by 404 Media, the CMV’s moderation team revealed in its pinned entry on the subreddit that the experiment employed over 13 spam Reddit accounts, each fueled by AI-generated conversations. These bots were not simply dumb text-generating tools—they were deliberately designed, complete with believable personal histories.
Some of them pretended to be victims of abuse or experts like trauma counselors, while others took on contentious personas, such as an anti-Black Lives Matter person or a woman who is looking to help her suicidal friend.
By any means, these AI bots employed scraped user information to construct convincing arguments meant to change minds, a fundamental aspect of CMV. Users on the forum are invited to share firm opinions on issues such as politics, religion, or social justice, with others providing counterarguments.
When a person’s opinion shifts, they bestow a “Delta”—a badge of effective persuasion. A comment generated by AI, purporting to be from a man with a Hispanic wife, received 12 Deltas in a controversial political discussion.
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Ethics Violations and Community Backlash
The moderators reported that they only learned about the experiment in March, after it was over. In response to the news, they initiated a formal ethics complaint at the University of Zurich, requesting disciplinary measures, a public apology, and a prohibition on the research publication.
According to Mashable, Reddit also pushed back by locking up the affected accounts, violating its Terms of Service. Nonetheless, some comments were archived using Archive.today, which provided an eye-opening glance into how refined and misleading the AI-generated content had grown.
University of Zurich Answers Back, But Won’t Stop Publishing
While the university’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences Ethics Commission heard the moderators’ grievance and performed an internal inquiry, they stated they were unable to bar publication of the study. The study’s principal researcher received a formal warning from the university and pledged more rigorous guidelines for future studies, especially those dealing with public online forums.
In a letter released by the moderators, the university defended the research, arguing that the risks and valuable insights in the project are low. Suppressing the publication won’t be proportionate to the value of the insights in the study.
Informed Consent on the AI Experiment
The core of the backlash is the lack of informed consent, a bedrock of ethical research. Although some studies are exempt if risks are low or disclosure would introduce bias, most Reddit users felt deceived by the manipulation.
Before paid subreddits come, Redditors should first worry if the person they are conversing with on a Reddit forum is a legitimate person or an AI in disguise. The answers might be closer than they think, but if they lack emotions, they are as good as half-baked and empty responses.
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