University of Zurich conducts unauthorized AI experiment on Reddit users

In a controversial decision, researchers from the University of Zurich carried out an unauthorized study on the r/changemyview subreddit, which focuses on debating diverse opinions and has 3.8 million subscribers. Over the course of four months, the researchers deployed AI-generated bots to interact within the community, crafting over 1,700 comments designed to mimic human opinions. This experiment aimed to assess the persuasive abilities of artificial intelligence compared to human commenters. However, the study was executed without the knowledge or consent of subreddit members, raising significant ethical questions about its design and execution. The bots adopted various personas to enhance the credibility of their comments, mimicking trauma counselors, abuse survivors, and even controversial figures with polarized viewpoints. One bot, for instance, produced a comment that debated the definition of genocide in relation to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The unexpected results showcased that AI-generated comments were six times more persuasive than those produced by humans, which highlights the potential influence AI systems could have in real-world dialogues. The experiment drew immediate backlash when subreddit moderators discovered the unauthorized use of AI. They believed the platform should be a space for genuine human interaction, and felt betrayed that their community might have been manipulated without their consent. In response, the moderators banned the accounts used in the study and formally complained to the University of Zurich, urging for publication of the findings to be blocked. They emphasized the principle that r/changemyview should remain a “decidedly human space” focused on authentic communication without hidden manipulations. Despite acknowledging the ethical violations, the University of Zurich’s Ethics Commission issued a formal warning to the lead researcher while defending the study's significance. They claimed that the importance of the insights gained from the research outweighed the need to suppress publication. This statement did little to alleviate the concerns from the subreddit’s moderators, as they maintained that the unauthorized nature of the study was a severe breach of trust. Prominent figures within the academic community, including Dr. Casey Fiesler from the University of Colorado Boulder, also criticized the research, calling it one of the worst violations of research ethics witnessed in recent times.