A group of AI researchers from the Univ of Zurich just got caught running an unauthorized psych experiment with AI on a main communication platform

[LuvOrlando]

Well this is something, not exactly unexpected but completely unconscionable that a school thinks this is ok. I often wonder how often we all come in contact with this sort of thing, apparently there are no rules :/

Reminds me of the JK Rowling line from a Chamber of Secrets, "Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain."

https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/reddiit-researchers-ai-bots-rcna203597

How long has this been around? Only a year or so... yikes

 

[Mommb]

I understand why this was wrong and why the moderators on the chat board were upset about it, because it was against the terms of the site. However, it does not appear that the bots actually hurt anyone. The experiment was in a forum dedicated to explaining positions, and that’s what the bots did.

It is common for online posters in anonymous forums to say things they wouldn’t say when talking to someone they know, to stir up debate or just to see what happens. How is using a chat bot in this case significantly different from a human poster saying something to see what happens?

I am more concerned when AI bots are used to provide specific information, as now happens with some prompts I put into Google. If the information the AI gathers (for example, about health care or legal issues) is incorrect, it can lead to real harm.

 

[_19disnA]

It is common for online posters in anonymous forums to say things they wouldn’t say when talking to someone they know, to stir up debate or just to see what happens. How is using a chat bot in this case significantly different from a human poster saying something to see what happens?

I agree. To some extent that happens on this site as well !!!

How ironic that people on some social media site would be upset when someone/something tries to 'influence' their opinion................LOL. Phony people on social media (AI or some other type) have been an issue for a long time. Don't use social media, but from many other articles I have seen over the years, Reddit doesn't sound like a site I would ever want to use. If you participate on some clearly biased social media site, that seems like something that comes with the territory. Wasn't part of the reason Musk originally tried buying twitter was all of the fake profiles he claimed the site had?

 

[PollyannaMom]

I'm not a fan of "unsupervised AI" at all, but I'm also not surprised that it happened. I'm pretty sure I've even seen bot posts here.

 

[_19disnA]

Yes, have been a few bots posting here at times. Usually it is quite obvious, their profile is brand new and they post on some thread that has been inactive for a few years................LOL. Most seem to be a clumsy attempt to advertise some other website then I see they disappear (or get banned) after a few days. Their awkward use of grammar also makes them easy to spot. Real people don't talk that way !!!

 

[LuvOrlando]

Seems this issue is proof that the media just creates problems that humans don't really care about, well either that or media can make people appear to care about things they do not actually care about.

Back in 2016 there was unimaginable hysteria over how FB influenced people in elections that lasted years and now here we are in 2025 and news like this, which is actually quite serious comparatively, doesn't get so much as a flinch. Interesting

Makes no sense, weird times we live in.

 

[tvguy]

Seems this issue is proof that the media just creates problems that humans don't really care about, well either that or media can make people appear to care about things they do not actually care about.

Back in 2016 there was unimaginable hysteria over how FB influenced people in elections that lasted years and now here we are in 2025 and news like this, which is actually quite serious comparatively, doesn't get so much as a flinch. Interesting

Makes no sense, weird times we live in.

Media? These were "educators"

 

[LuvOrlando]

Media? These were "educators"

Not talking about the people who do it, talking about the potential threat of a thing.

In 2016 the threat was supposedly monumental and now it is not even a sigh

 

[tvguy]

Not talking about the people who do it, talking about the potential threat of a thing.

In 2016 the threat was supposedly monumental and now it is not even a sigh

Just a reflection of how society views things now.