I had no problem accessing the article. Or, maybe the title's changed, or this one is a new one. It's worth reading if you want to try it again.
Here is the gist of it:
"Reddit’s top lawyer, Ben Lee, said the company is considering legal action against researchers from the University of Zurich who ran what he called an “improper and highly unethical experiment” by surreptitiously deploying AI chatbots in a popular debate subreddit. The University of Zurich told 404 Media that the experiment results will not be published and said the university is investigating how the research was conducted.
As we reported Monday, researchers at the University of Zurich ran an “unauthorized” and secret experiment on Reddit users in the r/changemyview subreddit in which dozens of AI bots engaged in debates with users about controversial issues. In some cases, the bots generated responses which claimed they were rape survivors, worked with trauma patients, or were Black people who were opposed to the Black Lives Matter movement. The researchers used a separate AI to mine the posting history of the people they were responding to in an attempt to determine personal details about them that they believed would make their bots more effective, such as their age, race, gender, location, and political beliefs.
In a post Monday evening, Lee said Reddit the company was not aware of the experiment until after it was run, and that the company is considering legal action against the University of Zurich and the researchers who did the study."
[ + ] big_fat_dangus
[ - ] big_fat_dangus 1 point 9 hoursApr 29, 2025 18:05:10 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] Flanders
[ - ] Flanders 0 points 20 minutesApr 30, 2025 02:55:55 ago (+0/-0)
Here is the gist of it:
"Reddit’s top lawyer, Ben Lee, said the company is considering legal action against researchers from the University of Zurich who ran what he called an “improper and highly unethical experiment” by surreptitiously deploying AI chatbots in a popular debate subreddit. The University of Zurich told 404 Media that the experiment results will not be published and said the university is investigating how the research was conducted.
As we reported Monday, researchers at the University of Zurich ran an “unauthorized” and secret experiment on Reddit users in the r/changemyview subreddit in which dozens of AI bots engaged in debates with users about controversial issues. In some cases, the bots generated responses which claimed they were rape survivors, worked with trauma patients, or were Black people who were opposed to the Black Lives Matter movement. The researchers used a separate AI to mine the posting history of the people they were responding to in an attempt to determine personal details about them that they believed would make their bots more effective, such as their age, race, gender, location, and political beliefs.
In a post Monday evening, Lee said Reddit the company was not aware of the experiment until after it was run, and that the company is considering legal action against the University of Zurich and the researchers who did the study."
https://www.404media.co/reddit-issuing-formal-legal-demands-against-researchers-who-conducted-secret-ai-experiment-on-users/
[ + ] drstrangergov
[ - ] drstrangergov 1 point 3 hoursApr 29, 2025 23:25:27 ago (+1/-0)
[ + ] Flanders
[ - ] Flanders 0 points 16 minutesApr 30, 2025 02:59:59 ago (+0/-0)