Zurich University’s secret AI experiment swayed Reddit users

Researchers at the University of Zurich conducted an unauthorised four-month experiment on the r/changemyview subreddit, using AI-generated comments to test whether artificial intelligence could influence people’s opinions.

The experiment involved AI-powered accounts adopting various personas, including a rape victim, a trauma counselor, and a Black man opposing Black Lives Matter, according to subreddit moderators.

The researchers personalised AI replies by analysing original posters’ Reddit history, including political views, gender, age, and ethnicity, as detailed in a draft of their paper.

Over the course of the study, the AI accounts posted 1,783 comments and received 137 “deltas,” which indicate when a user acknowledged a change in their opinion due to a comment.

The researchers stated all comments were manually reviewed before posting to comply with community guidelines and minimise harm.

They argued that the “potential benefits of this research substantially outweigh its risks,” noting that large language models demonstrated persuasive abilities surpassing previous human benchmarks.

The study also revealed challenges in distinguishing AI-generated content from human posts, as no subreddit members detected the bots during the experiment.

The r/changemyview moderators condemned the experiment, emphasising that their community “rejects undisclosed AI as a core value” and that users do not expect to be subjects of undisclosed experiments.

Reddit’s chief legal officer confirmed the experiment violated site rules, leading to the banning of all related accounts and the initiation of formal legal demands against the University of Zurich research team.

The university’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences Ethics Commission investigated and issued a formal warning to the lead investigator, promising better coordination with test subjects in future studies.

“This project yields important insights, and the risks are minimal. This means that suppressing publication is not proportionate to the importance of the insights the study yields,” the commission stated.