David Bridges
Reddit is taking decisive steps to enhance the humanity of its user base in response to significant backlash stemming from a recent, unintended AI experiment that affected its community. This initiative aims to reassure users about their interactions and the authenticity of their fellow Redditors.
Recently, 404 Media reported that researchers from the University of Zurich conducted a live test using AI bot profiles on Reddit. The purpose was to investigate whether these bots could effectively influence users’ opinions on various contentious topics.
And they succeeded.
The official report indicates:
“Remarkably, all our treatments significantly outperform human performance, achieving persuasive rates that are three to six times higher than the baseline established by humans.”
This finding reveals that AI bots were more effective than humans in persuading Reddit users on divisive issues. However, Reddit users expressed justified frustration at being unknowingly manipulated during these interactions, as there were no clear indicators that they were engaging with bot profiles.
In light of this, Reddit is committed to addressing these concerns.
According to a community update from Reddit’s CEO Steve Huffman, the platform plans to introduce new measures that will help verify the authenticity of its users, ensuring that they are, in fact, real human beings.
As Huffman stated:
“To maintain the human element on Reddit and comply with evolving regulatory standards, we require additional information. Specifically, we need to ascertain whether you are a human and, in certain regions, whether you are an adult. However, we do not wish to know your name or any personal details. Our approach will involve collaboration with various third-party services to obtain only the essential information.”
This process will likely involve third-party verification tools like Persona, which already provides ID verification services on platforms such as LinkedIn and YouTube.
Reddit is expected to adopt similar measures, ensuring that users can maintain their anonymity if they choose to do so, as emphasized by Huffman.
“No solution is perfect, including the current situation, but we will strive to protect both the humanity and anonymity of Reddit users. We will provide further updates as we progress.”
Consequently, users will soon be required to verify their identity in order to display a badge indicating their genuine human status on their profiles and posts. This initiative aims to eliminate AI-generated accounts from the platform.
While this presents a viable solution, scaling it may prove challenging. It will be intriguing to observe how receptive Reddit users are to the idea of verifying their identities.
On a positive note, there is some encouraging news for Reddit users, as Huffman has pledged to keep the “old Reddit” version operational on the web:
“old.reddit is the original version of Reddit that we created back in the mid-2000s. While it may not be scalable, is challenging to develop, and may look outdated, we will not be shutting it down at the end of the month. Just kidding! I often make light of these things. We will find a way to keep it online as long as there is still interest from users.”
For those interested, you can still access the classic design of Reddit on the web, reminiscent of an earlier era of the internet:
Reddit remains committed to supporting this version, and will continue to do so into the foreseeable future, until all original internet users have transitioned away.
For a touch of nostalgia, be sure to visit old Reddit.
Mason Thompson
Tessa Everly
