Something is creeping up in every aspect of our lives, especially the internet. It’s Artificial Intelligence. Almost every platform you engage in and use is influenced by AI. But, is it friendly to humans? A recent controversy on Reddit’s r/ChangeMyView subreddit (CMV) has made people wonder where the ethical boundaries are.
The popular subreddit’s moderators learned earlier this year that researchers from the University of Zurich had secretly carried out an experiment in which they used AI-generated posts as well as comments to influence actual Reddit users. These bots were not merely generic text generators; they pretended to be real people with real histories as well as backstories to support their claims and emotional appeals, all in an attempt to influence conversations as well as persuade without anyone’s consent.
The Research Experiment
The project, according to the moderator’s Reddit post, used several fake accounts that were driven by AI systems to sway users’ opinions. The participants, who were ordinary Reddit users, were unaware that they were taking part in a computational and psychological experiment. To build a credible and empathetic character, some AI accounts even took on extremely personal identities, like social activists or trauma survivors. The truth wasn’t revealed until the moderators noticed the unusual patterns that the bots exhibited.
