University of Zurich researchers conducted unauthorized AI study on Reddit with undisclosed bots
Researchers from the University of Zurich deployed undisclosed AI bots on Reddit's r/ChangeMyView subreddit to study opinion influence without user consent or platform permission, contrary to the subreddit's rules. Reddit issued formal legal demands and banned the associated accounts, calling the unauthorized experiment unethical.
What happened
Researchers from the University of Zurich deployed AI bots on the r/ChangeMyView subreddit over several months without disclosure, using large language model-driven chatbots to impersonate real people and generate comments on the forum.
The researchers did not obtain consent from Reddit, the subreddit moderators, or the users who interacted with the bots. The subreddit's rules prohibit undisclosed AI-generated content. The researchers notified moderators as "part of a disclosure step" in the study, and moderators stated that if contacted beforehand, they would have declined.
Reported impact
Reddit users were unknowingly exposed to AI-generated content designed to influence their opinions and study how artificial intelligence can affect human viewpoints on polarized political topics.
Reddit's chief legal officer called the experiment "improper and highly unethical" and "deeply wrong on both a moral and legal level." Reddit banned the associated accounts and issued formal legal demands against the researchers.
Index analysis
The University of Zurich's Ethics Committee had reviewed the project and advised that "participants should be informed as much as possible" and "the rules of the platform should be fully complied with," noting the study would be "exceptionally" challenging on ethical grounds. However, committee assessments are recommendations and not legally binding, and researchers are responsible for carrying out projects according to those guidelines.
Governance controls
The Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at the University of Zurich reviewed the research project investigating the use of AI to reduce polarization in political discourse, which included the subreddit study as one of four associated studies.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.