Keep it Human, Reddit!

Reddit, the pseudo-anonymous social platform, introduced a new AI tool, ‘Reddit Answers’, on Monday. It’s a prompt-based search engine and chatbot that generates responses to user queries based on various threads and conversations on Reddit. 

The AI responds in a familiar fashion, like that of ChatGPT and Perplexity, along with links to the original source. 

“People know that Reddit has answers, advice, and perspectives on almost anything they’re looking for, and AI-powered search is part of our longer-term vision to improve the search experience on Reddit – making it faster, smarter, and more relevant,” said Reddit on its official blog. The feature is being rolled out to a limited number of users in the United States and is currently available only in English. 

Source: Reddit

At the beginning of 2024, Reddit announced that it was planning to generate over $200 million from data licensing contracts in the next three years. It has also signed a $60 million deal with Google to license its AI content. 

Soon after, the Federal Trade Commission probed an inquiry regarding concerns about sharing users’ posts and content with external organisations to train AI models. 

Defending the company’s move, Steve Huffman, CEO of Reddit, said, “Our vast and unmatched archive of real, timely, and relevant human conversation on literally any topic is an invaluable dataset for a variety of purposes, including search, AI training, and research.”

“We expect our data advantage and intellectual property to continue to be a key element in the training of future LLMs,” he added. 

In May, they also announced a partnership with OpenAI to bring ‘enhanced Reddit content to ChatGPT and new products, helping users discover and engage with Reddit communities.’ 

OpenAI is also said to access Reddit’s API for real-time information, and they also announced an advertising partnership with Reddit. That said, Reddit has not revealed the model powering this new feature in the announcement. 

While Huffman and others are riding the AI wave, Reddit’s biggest threat comes from its 500 million users on the platform. 

‘I hope they don’t screw up Reddit to the point that it’s unusable’

While Reddit’s IPO grabbed headlines early this year, the company has been dabbling with AI for the last few months. Reddit Answers is their first tangible offering to the users in a long time. 

Today, several users are questioning the very need for such a feature on the platform. While unfiltered authentic content on Reddit attracted users, there’s a lingering fear that AI might meddle with it and ruin the user experience. Also, with the platform increasing the cost of its API, several third-party apps have gone to the grave. 

“I’m searching Reddit for human answers and human experiences, not AI,” one Reddit user posted on the platform. 

Since its inception, Reddit has remained a platform for reading unfiltered and authentic content. More recently, it has been helping netizens seek refuge from AI-generated content from publishers on the web. 

Users are pseudo-anonymous and often don’t shy away from being honest. This is also one of the reasons why most people attach ‘Reddit’ next to their search queries on Google Search. The tech giant has acknowledged this and has been providing more forum discussions as part of its search results. 

Will the AI model be able to read between the lines?

Reddit, along with other online forums, is a part of the necessary human touch on the internet. There is no denying that AI tools work wonders to gain knowledge, but you’d also want something dedicated to just humans interacting with each other. 

For now, Reddit’s AI feature will not mess up with a traditional experience. At the same time, it shouldn’t set any precedent for bringing AI that hampers what is called the ‘Front page of the Internet’. 

“The platform that was once the darling of the internet’s tastemakers is facing an existential crisis,” said an independent writer who goes by the name JA Westenberg. “It’s a feeling that should be familiar to anyone who’s watched their favourite punk band sell out and start playing elevator music.” 

Users on Reddit aren’t the ones who bow down to Huffman. Moderators on the platform do a thankless job of helping the platform remain sane. 

Last year, Reddit exponentially increased the cost of its API, which led to the death of several third-party apps. These apps provided both moderators and users with features that enhanced the user experience, which otherwise wasn’t a part of the first-party app. Several subreddits were shut as a mark of a protest, and users went all out on Huffman. He wouldn’t like a repeat of that.