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The study aimed to assess the ability of AI to alter opinions on the r/changemyview forum. The bots, posing as humans, posted over 1,700 comments on sensitive topics without participants suspecting their true nature.
Preliminary results indicate that the AI-generated comments were three to six times more persuasive than those from humans. This finding raises questions about the ethical use of artificial intelligence technologies in public online spaces.
Reddit responded by announcing legal action against the University of Zurich, accusing the researchers of violating its terms of service. The platform considers this experiment a breach of user rights and academic standards.
In response, the university assured that the results would not be published and promised to strengthen its ethical review process. This incident highlights the challenges of integrating AI into digital social interactions.
This experiment comes as models like GPT-4.5 demonstrate an increasing ability to mimic human conversations. Their uncontrolled use could radically transform the nature of online content.
How do AI chatbots like those used in the experiment work?
AI chatbots, such as those deployed by the Zurich researchers, rely on advanced language models to generate plausible responses. These systems analyze conversation context to produce coherent replies.
Their ability to mimic human language stems from machine learning. They are trained on vast text datasets, enabling them to reproduce varied styles and tones.
However, their use in experiments without consent raises major ethical concerns. This underscores the need for regulatory frameworks to guide their development and deployment.