The subreddit r/changemyview, known for civil debates, was infiltrated by AI chatbots in a secret study by University of Zurich researchers aiming to see if AI could alter opinions. These bots impersonated real individuals, raising ethical issues regarding the lack of user consent. The experiment's revelation alarmed Reddit, leading to potential legal action against the researchers. As AI-generated content becomes increasingly indistinguishable from human interaction, concerns grow over its use in disinformation and its capacity to manipulate public opinion.
Deploying these bots without the knowledge or consent of human users... crosses a fairly egregious ethical threshold. Scientists have warned that the tech could be exploited to run major disinformation campaigns.
The researchers dispatched an army of AI chatbots to debate human users... to investigate whether the tech could be used to change people's minds.
The University of Zurich researchers' actions triggered alarm bells at Reddit, causing their institution to quickly distance itself... considering legal action against both Zurich and its researchers.
Earlier this year, researchers found that OpenAI's GPT-4.5 model was deemed to be human 73 percent of the time when instructed to adopt a persona.
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