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The platform’s updated artificial intelligence systems are preventing about 25,000 spam posts and comments each day.
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Reddit has become a key reference source for artificial intelligence chatbot responses, so it makes sense that spammers are increasingly looking to influence discussions in the app.
Indeed, Reddit has reported that it’s now dealing with more than 23 million spam views each day, representing a significant increase in inauthentic activity.
At the same time, the platform is improving its defenses. Reddit reported on Monday that its updated, AI-powered spam detection systems are now stopping approximately 25,000 spam posts and comments every day, representing a 20% decrease in spam exposure year-over-year.
Those efforts are stopping most of this activity before it’s exposed users, Reddit said. In addition, the approach is also keeping Reddit’s feedback stream clean, ensuring that it remains indicative of people’s actual responses to topics in the app.
As per Reddit: “We look at signals right when an account is created to stop suspicious actors before they ever get the chance to post. For those that do, we leverage LLMs to catch the highly subtle, coordinated patterns of fake behavior and artificial hype that older systems once missed.”
Reddit also now asks for verification for any accounts that its system detects as being potentially automated.
In addition, Reddit said that its expanded approach has also seen it also remove almost 2 million inauthentic post votes per day over the last three months.
Again, with Reddit becoming a more influential platform, scammers are going to seek ways to interfere with that process, in order to promote those tactics and systems to anybody who wants to increase their web presence through Reddit discussions.
Upvote manipulation could arguably be the most influential aspect here. Reddit’s human-curated responses provide significant value for AI chatbots, because those responses offer insight into what actual people think about a topic, as compared to manipulated product review listings or biased sources.
Reddit’s value is that it represents actual consumer responses across a range of subjects, including brands and products. Its upvoting process essentially vets the responses through crowd-sourced feedback, which is why Reddit is such a valuable reference tool for AI bots, and why Reddit needs to protect this data stream.
Reddit said its improved detection and enforcement measures also include significantly increased performance regarding spam and hate speech. The platform has also been able to decrease false positives in its process by more than 40%.
This important focus will ensure that Reddit remains a key reference point and data tool in the age of AI.
