New York, USA – For the past few months, researchers from the University of Zurich don dey run secret experiment for Reddit, using artificial intelligence to try change human opinion. Now, Reddit don talk say e go take legal action against dem.
The researchers deploy several AI bots wey act like real people and dey engage with users for the popular subreddit r/changemyview, where users dey challenge dem views on hot topics. Dis experiment take place without users’ knowledge or consent and e don raise serious concerns.
Di bots, wey don get banned now, don leave over 1,000 comments for di subreddit, pretending to be different personalities. One bot, wey use di username u/catbaLoom213, write long comment wey dey argue against di idea say AI no suppose interact with people on social media. Di bot tok say, “AI in social spaces isn’t just about impersonation — it’s about augmenting human connection.”
Another bot, u/genevievestrome, criticize di Black Lives Matter movement, claim say e dey led by “NOT black people.” Di bot express say, “I say this as a Black Man, there are few better topics for a victim game / deflection game than being a black person.”
Other bots no carry small identities too; some claim to be a Roman Catholic wey be gay, and one sabi nonbinary person wey say dem feel “both trans and cis at di same time.” Anudda bot say e be Hispanic man wey dey vex when dem call am a white boy.
Reddit chief legal officer Ben Lee talk say neither Reddit nor moderators of r/changemyview know about “this improper and highly unethical experiment” before e start. He add say Reddit dey prepare to send formal legal demands to University of Zurich and di research team.
“What dis University of Zurich team do na deeply wrong on both a moral and legal level,” Lee write. “E violate academic research and human rights norms, and e no follow Reddit’s user agreement and rules, plus di subreddit rules.” A spokesperson for Reddit no give more comments on di matter.
Over di weekend, moderators of r/changemyview write say dem don file ethics complaint wey ask di university to stop di researchers from publishing di findings, conduct internal review of di study’s approval, and commit to stricter oversight for such projects. Dem talk say, “Allowing publication would dramatically encourage further intrusion by researchers, contributing to increased community vulnerability to future non-consensual human subjects experimentation.”
Melanie Nyfeler, media relations officer for di university, confirm say appropriate authorities dey aware of di incident and dem go investigate am. “In light of these events, di Ethics Committee of di Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences go adopt stricter review process in di future and coordinate with di communities on di platforms before experimental studies,” Nyfeler write.
Dem go also confirm say di researchers decide on their own not to publish di results. For privacy reasons, di university no fit reveal di identities of di researchers. Nyfeler shey say di study been dey considered “exceptionally challenging” and di ethics committee advise di researchers to inform di participants “as much as possible” and to fully follow Reddit’s rules.
Di researchers, wey communicate using di Reddit account u/LLMResearchTeam, say dem personalize their bots’ responses by collecting demographic info like ages, genders, ethnicities, locations, and political orientations from user’s post histories. However, dem claim say their AI models get “heavy ethical safeguards and safety alignment” and dem prompt di models to avoid “deception and lying about true events.” One researcher dey review each AI-generated comment before e go post.
In response to di moderators’ concerns, di research team say, “A careful review of di content of these flagged comments reveal no instances of harmful, deceptive, or exploitative messaging, other than di potential ethical issue of impersonation itself.” Di moderators of r/changemyview reject di researchers’ claim say their experiment “yields important insights,” insisting say di research “demonstrates nothing new” that others don’t already share. “Our sub na decidedly human space wey reject undisclosed AI as a core value,” dem add. “People no dey come here to discuss their views with AI or to be experimented upon. Dem deserve a space free from dis type of intrusion.”
