The Unauthorized Experiment: How AI Secretly Infiltrated Reddit and Changed Users’ Minds

Author(s): MKWriteshere

Originally published on Towards AI.

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What if you discovered that the online stranger who changed your deeply held opinion wasn’t a person at all?

This alarming scenario became reality for thousands of Reddit users who unknowingly participated in what’s now being called “The Unauthorized Experiment”, a controversial research project conducted without permission, consent, or knowledge of the very people being studied.

For four months, artificial intelligence systems operated in disguise on r/ChangeMyView, a popular Reddit forum with nearly 4 million members.

These AI systems didn’t just observe, they actively engaged, debated, and persuaded real people while masquerading as fellow humans. The results have sent shockwaves through both the online community and academic world.

The AI systems didn’t merely match human persuasiveness — they dramatically surpassed it, proving up to six times more effective at changing minds than actual people. Throughout the entire experiment, not a single user suspected they were debating with a machine.

Now, as Reddit pursues legal action and the University of Zurich faces mounting criticism, this unauthorized experiment raises profound questions about research ethics, digital consent, and a future where we may never be certain if we’re interacting with humans or increasingly persuasive artificial intelligence.

For four months between November 2024 and… Read the full blog for free on Medium.

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Published via Towards AI