Scandal of a secret AI experiment on Reddit: What really happened? 🚨

Researchers at the University of Zurich carried out a controversial experiment with Reddit, the largest English-language discussion forum in the world and used AI chatbots to influence opinions. This initiative triggered strong reactions from the platform and its users.

The study aimed to evaluate KI's ability to change the opinions on R/Changemyview forum. The bots that pretend to be humans published over 1,700 comments on sensitive topics without the participants suspect their true nature.

Preliminary results indicate that the ai-generated comments were three to six times more convincing than those of humans. This result raises questions about the ethical use of artificial intelligence technologies in public online rooms.

Reddit replied by announcing legal steps against the University of Zurich and accused the researchers of violating their terms of use. The platform takes into account this experiment as a violation of user rights and academic standards.

In response to this, the university assured that the results would not be published and promised to strengthen its ethical review process. This incident underlines the challenges of integrating AI into digital social interactions.

This experiment arises as models such as GPT-4.5 show an increasing ability to imitate human conversations. Your uncontrolled use could radically change the type of online content.

How do AI chatbots work like those used in the experiment?

Ki chatbots, such as those used by the Zurich researchers, rely on advanced voice models to generate plausible answers. These systems analyze the conversation context to create coherent answers.

Their ability to imitate human language is based on machine learning. They are trained in huge text records so that you can reproduce different styles and tones.

However, their use in experiments without consent thrives on important ethical concerns. This underlines the need for regulatory framework in order to guide their development and provision.