An experiment deploying AI-generated messages on a Reddit subforum has drawn criticism for, among other critiques, a lack of informed consent from unknowing participants in the community.

The researchers, who requested anonymity form the subreddit moderators, provided this description of the research: "Over the past few months, we used multiple accounts to posts published on CMV. Our experiment assessed LLM’s persuasiveness in an ethical scenario, where people ask for arguments against views they hold."

User accounts created to post AI-generated content posed as a victim of rape, a trauma counselor specializing in abuse, a black man opposed to Black Lives Matter, among other personas, according to the moderators’ post. All user accounts linked to the experiment and listed in the post have been suspended. "This is one of the worst violations of research ethics I’ve ever seen," Casey Fiesler, an information scientist at the University of Colorado, wrote on Bluesky.

 
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