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Redditors around the populace were scandalized last hebdomad after learning that a squad of researchers turn a drove of AI - power , human - impersonate bot on the “ Change My View ” subreddit . Thelarge - scale experimentwas design to explore just how persuasive AI can be .
For Reddit , the incident was a mini - nightmare . Reddit ’s marque is link with authenticity — a property where real the great unwashed come to share real public opinion . If that human - focused ecosystem is disturbed withAI slopor becomes a place where multitude ca n’t trust that they ’re getting info from actual humans , it could do more than threaten Reddit ’s center identity element . Reddit ’s bottom line could be at stake , since the society nowsells its depicted object to OpenAI for grooming .
The company sentence the “ improper and extremely unethical experiment ” and filed a ailment with the university that die hard it . But that experiment was only one of what will likely be many instances of procreative AI bot pretending to be human beings on Reddit for a variety of rationality , from the scientific to the politically manipulative .
To protect users from bot manipulation and “ keep Reddit human , ” the companionship has quietly signaled an upcoming natural process — one that may be unpopular with users who add up to Reddit for another reason : namelessness .
On Monday , Reddit CEO Steve Huffmanshared in a postthat Reddit would start run with “ various third - political party services ” to control a substance abuser ’s man . This represents a pregnant step for a chopine that has historically require almost no personal info for user to create an report .
“ To keep Reddit human and to satisfy evolving regulatory prerequisite , we are going to demand a little more info , ” Huffman wrote . “ Specifically , we will need to know whether you are a homo , and in some location , if you are an adult . But we never want to know your name or who you are . ”
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( Social media companies have already protrude implement ID checks after at least nine states and the U.K. and go laws mandate age verification to protect children on their platforms . )
A Reddit spokesperson declined to explain under what circumstances the party would command user to go through a verification unconscious process , though they did confirm that Reddit already take measures to ban “ tough ” bots . The spokesperson also would n’t apportion more detail about which third - party service of process the company would apply or what kind of in person place information substance abuser would have to declare oneself up .
Many troupe today rely on verification platforms like Persona , Alloy , Stripe Identity , Plaid , and Footprint , which unremarkably ask a governing - issue ID to verify age and humanity . Then there ’s the newer and more speculative tech , like Sam Altman ’s Tools for Humanity and itseye - scan “ validation of human ” equipment .
Opponents to ID checks say there are data concealment and security measures risks to share your personal information with social media platforms . That ’s especially honest for a political program like Reddit , where people derive to post experiences they maybe never would have if their names were attach to them .
It ’s not unmanageable to imagine a world in which authorities might subpoena Reddit for the personal identity of , for instance , a pregnant adolescent require about miscarriage experiences on r / cleaning woman in states where it is now illegal . Just look howMeta handed over secret conversationsbetween a Nebraska woman and her 17 - yr - old daughter , which discussed the latter ’s plans to terminate a pregnancy . Meta ’s assist led law enforcement to larn a lookup warrant , which result in felony charges for both the mother and daughter .
That ’s exactly the risk Reddit hope to invalidate by tapping away firm to provide “ the essential selective information and nothing else , ” per Huffman , who emphasized that “ we never want to eff your name or who you are . ”
“ Anonymity is substantive to Reddit , ” he said .
The chief operating officer also mention that Reddit would keep to be “ extremely protective of your personal information ” and “ will continue to push back against excessive or unreasonable demands from public or secret sureness . ”
