Redditors around the world were scandalized last week after learning that a team of researchers had released a herd of AI-powered human-filled bots on their “My View Change My View” Subreddit. Large-scale experiments are designed to explore how compelling AI is.
The bot has posted over 1,700 comments and employs personas such as controversial identities like abuse survivors and anti-black lives advocates.
For Reddit, the incident was a mini nightmare. Reddit's brand is associated with authenticity, a place where real people come to share authentic opinions. If that human-focused ecosystem gets in the way with AI slops or it becomes a place where people can't trust getting information from real people, it can do more than threaten Reddit's core identity. The company is currently selling its content to Openai for training, which could mean Reddit's revenues are at stake.
The company condemned the “inappropriate and highly unethical experiment” and filed a complaint with the university that carried it out. But the experiment was just one of many examples of generative AI bots pretending to be human on Reddit for a variety of reasons, from scientific to political manipulation.
The company quietly showed future actions to protect users from bot interaction and “keep Reddit Human.”
On Monday, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman shared in a post that Reddit will begin collaborating with “a variety of third-party services” to verify the humanity of its users. This represents an important step for a platform that historically required little personal information to create an account.
“We'll need a little more information to keep Reddit human and meet evolving regulatory requirements,” writes Huffman. “Specifically, if you're an adult, you need to know if you're a human or some place. But we don't want to know your name or who you are.”
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(Social media companies have begun implementing ID checks after at least nine states and the UK, passing laws requiring age verification to protect children on their platforms.)
A Reddit spokesperson refused to explain what circumstances would require users to carry out the verification process, but Reddit has already confirmed that it will take steps to ban “bad” bots. Additionally, the spokesman will not share details about which third-party services the company will use or personally identifying the information that users provide.
Today, many companies rely on verification platforms such as personas, alloys, stripe identities, plaids, and footprints. This usually requires a government-issued ID to verify age and humanity. Then there are newer, more speculative technologies, like Sam Altman's tools for humanity and the “human proof” devices that fear their eyes.
The opponents to ID checks say there is data privacy and security risks in sharing personal information with social media platforms. This is especially true for platforms like Reddit. People will likely post experiences they don't have if their name is attached.
For example, it's not difficult to imagine a world where authorities can summon Reddit because of the identity of pregnant teens asking about the abortion experiences of R/women in states that are now illegal. See how Meta handed over a private conversation between a Nebraska woman and her 17-year-old daughter. Mehta's support led to law enforcement obtaining search warrants, resulting in felony charges being filed on both mother and daughter.
That's exactly what Huffman said Reddit emphasized that he “never wants to know your name or who you are,” and that he wants to avoid it by tapping outside companies and providing “essential information and other things.”
“Anonymity is essential to Reddit,” he said.
The CEO also said that Reddit continues to “have great protection for your personal information” and “continue to oppose excessive or unreasonable demands from public or private authorities.”