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Cyber

Swiss university secretly ran AI experiment to manipulate minds

2025-05-06

[RT] Reddit is considering suing the University of Zurich for using chatbots to sway users’ opinions on hot-button topics.

According to media reports, a group of researchers at the University of Zurich in recent months conducted an unauthorized study on r/ChangeMyView, one of Reddit’s largest debate communities.

Definitely the right place to run that kind of experiment.

The experiment involved AI chatbots posing as regular users and engaging in discussions on controversial issues.

The bots, whose accounts have since been banned, posted more than 1,700 comments across the subreddit. They adopted fake identities such as a male rape victim downplaying the trauma of his assault, a Black man opposing the Black Lives Matter movement, and a domestic trauma counselor claiming the most vulnerable women were those “sheltered by overprotective parents.”

Ah. A proper experiment would test response to each side of each argument, not just consistently the same side of each argument.

Another bot was used to scan user profiles and deliver personalized arguments in response.

The researchers disclosed the experiment to subreddit moderators several months after it had taken place, calling it “a disclosure step in the study.”

In a statement posted last week, Reddit’s moderator team has said the platform prohibits the use of undisclosed AI-generated content or bots. Reddit’s chief legal officer, Ben Lee, said neither the company nor the r/ChangeMyView moderators had prior knowledge of what he called an “improper and highly unethical experiment.” He added that Reddit was preparing formal legal demands to send to the University of Zurich and the researchers involved.

The researchers said the study had been guided by principles of “ethical” research and transparency. The university ethics committee had argued that the research had caused little harm. Still, users on the subreddit reacted with shock and anger over being unknowingly experimented on.

The journal Science cited an emailed university statement as saying the researchers have decided not to publish the results.

Smart. They’d get reamed for the built in bias of their protocol. It would be a serious teachable moment for the entire academic community.

The university said it would investigate the incident.

I recommend a remedial course in proper test design for all involved in running, approving, and funding the project.

The use of AI bots – fake accounts designed to mimic real users – has grown steadily across social media platforms in recent years. Experts say they are increasingly used to shape public opinion, particularly around elections.

It would be interesting to know if the scientists involved concluded they were successful in influencing and/or changing minds. Or not.

Western governments, primarily the US and the UK, have long accused Russia of operating large-scale ‘bot farms’ to interfere in their election processes – accusations Moscow has repeatedly denied. However, some Western actors have come under scrutiny themselves for using bots in disinformation campaigns, while publicly warning about foreign interference.

Posted by:Skidmark

#1 I saw an article on X with a researcher lamenting that no scientific journal would accept any articles with AI results in the articles.

He was researching why pure sciences like astronomy went in and out of "style". He did a lot of AI queries in his research and GROK hit a very interesting answer which he followed up with serious research. He won't be published because the idea came from Grok.

Posted by: 3dc 2025-05-06 13:20

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