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A group of researchers covertly ran a months-long "unauthorized" experiment in one of Reddits most popular communities using AI-generated comments to test the persuasiveness of large language models. The experiment, which was revealed over the weekend by moderators of r/changemyview, is described by Reddit mods as psychological manipulation of unsuspecting users. The CMV Mod Team needs to inform the CMV community about an unauthorized experiment conducted by researchers from the University of Zurich on CMV users, the subreddits moderators wrote in a lengthy post notifying Redditors about the research. This experiment deployed AI-generated comments to study how AI could be used to change views. The researchers used LLMs to create comments in response to posts on r/changemyview, a subreddit where Reddit users post (often controversial or provocative) opinions and request debate from other users. The community has 3.8 million members and often ends up on the front page of Reddit. According to the subreddits moderators, the AI took on numerous different identities in comments during the course of the experiment, including a sexual assault survivor, a trauma counselor specializing in abuse, and a Black man opposed to Black Lives Matter. Many of the original comments have since been deleted, but some can still be viewed in an archive created by 404 Media. In a draft of their paper, the unnamed researchers describe how they not only used AI to generate responses, but attempted to personalize its replies based on information gleaned from the original posters prior Reddit history. In addition to the posts content, LLMs were provided with personal attributes of the OP (gender, age, ethnicity, location, and political orientation), as inferred from their posting history using another LLM, they write. The r/chnagemyview moderators note that the researchers violated multiple subreddit rules, including a policy requiring the disclosure when AI is used to generate comment and a rule prohibiting bots. They say they filed an official complaint with the University of Zurich and have requested the researchers withhold publication of their paper. The researchers didnt respond to an email from Engadget. In posts on Reddit and in a draft of their paper, though, they say their research was approved by a university ethics committee and that their work could help online communities like Reddit protect users from more malicious uses of AI. We acknowledge the moderators position that this study was an unwelcome intrusion in your community, and we understand that some of you may feel uncomfortable that this experiment was conducted without prior consent, the researchers wrote in a comment responding to the r/changemyview mods. We believe the potential benefits of this research substantially outweigh its risks. Our controlled, low-risk study provided valuable insight into the real-world persuasive capabilities of LLMscapabilities that are already easily accessible to anyone and that malicious actors could already exploit at scale for far more dangerous reasons (e.g., manipulating elections or inciting hateful speech). The mods for r/changemyview dispute that the research was necessary or novel, noting that OpenAI researchers have conducted experiments using data from r/changemyview without experimenting on non-consenting human subjects. Reddit didnt respond to a request for comment, though the accounts that posted the AI-generated comments have been suspended. People do not come here to discuss their views with AI or to be experimented upon, the moderators wrote. People who visit our sub deserve a space free from this type of intrusion.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/ai/researchers-secretly-experimented-on-reddit-users-with-ai-generated-comments-194328026.html?src=rss
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The extraction-shooter genre is getting a little more crowded and a lot more stylish with the announcement of Mycopunk, a four-player, first-person romp from indie studio Pigeons at Play and publisher Devolver Digital. Mycopunk is coming to Steam in early access this year. Mycopunk stars four eccentric robots whove been hired by an intergalactic megacorporation to exterminate an invasive, violent fungus thats taken root on a valuable planet. Each robot has a specific class and moveset, but players can use any weapon or loadout with any character and thats a huge benefit, because there are a ton of wacky guns, upgrades and ammo options in this game. For example, there are bouncing shotgun pellets, bullets that hover in place and then dive down when you press the trigger again, and a rocket launcher move that also makes you fly. Customization is a big part of the Mycopunk experience, and there are about 40 upgrades for every weapon, plus unique skill enhancements for each robot. A spatial upgrade system lets you activate abilities by placing their molecular strands on a honeycomb grid, combining effects in powerful and silly ways. The main loop in Mycopunk involves gathering your team, setting mission modifiers, and then dropping onto a planet to kill hordes of massive, tentacled fungus monsters. With each run, you have to accomplish your corporate-directed goal, collect resources for future upgrades and generally survive the onslaught. Missions are fast-paced and the action shifts throughout, dropping new enemies, minibosses and environmental dangers until your final escape. The hub world, where you hang out between missions, is surprisingly vast and packed with surreal touches, like a giant TV screen that only shows a sitcom about roaches. All abilities are unlocked in the hub so you can freely test out your character, plus there are vehicles to drive around, a sparring area, a recreation sphere, snack machines, and secret passageways to explore. It also has Roachard, your mission control contact who happens to be a big roach. Devolver Digital Visually, Pigeons at Play took inspiration from your coolest friends favorite comic book artist, Moebius, which lends the game a gritty, hand-drawn vibe. Mycopunk looks like a living graphic novel, blending retrofuturism with slick mechanics to create a rich, tactile experience. It specifically reminds me of Rollerdrome, a gorgeous game that I will never stop talking about. Mycopunk started out as a senior thesis project for the Pigeons at Play crew, but its transformed into something much larger (kind of like a well-fed fungus). Mycopunk is charming and surprisingly deep, with dozens of cute touches that come straight from the developers history of playing co-op shooters together. For instance, to revive a teammate you have to literally find and reconnect two halves of their broken robot body, instead of just pressing X over their corpse in the middle of a hectic battlefield. Each character also has their own dance moves, and one of the available upgrades lets you move a swarm of bullets through the air like a murderous orchestra conductor. A demo for Mycopunk went live on Steam today and the game is set to enter early access later in 2025.This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/pc/mycopunk-is-an-upbeat-love-letter-to-extraction-shooters-192337609.html?src=rss
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There are plenty of good reasons to delete your X account, whether it's because of a general desire to not do anything to help Elon Musk, a distaste for the curdled culture of the platform or the allure of greener social pastures like Bluesky or Threads. Whatever your reason, the process of deleting your account is simple, and by design, pretty hands-off. In order to get rid of your X account, you'll first have to deactivate it. Once you go 30 days without logging in, it will be permanently deleted. How to deactivate your X account Ian Carlos Campbell for Engadget Deactivating your X account makes your profile page, posts and associated username disappear, though posts you were tagged in before you shutdown in your account will still be viewable. Deactivating also makes it impossible for you to post or view your timeline, unless you reactivate. It's one of the strongest ways to "take a break" from X, but also the only way you can get your account permanently deleted. If you need any of your data before you deactivate and delete, you'll want to make sure you initiate that process and receive your archive before you deactivate. X says it can't send an archive from an account that's been deactivated. Open X. Click on the More section in the sidebar menu. Click on Settings and Privacy. In the Your account section of Settings, click on Deactivate your account. Read through X's warnings and then click on Deactivate. Enter your account password to confirm you want to deactivate, then click Deactivate. Now just make sure that you don't log in for 30 days, and your account will be permanently deleted. This won't necessarily delete web search results that mention your X account or your posts, but it will eliminate records of you on X itself. FAQs How do you reactivate your account? If you have a change of heart before your 30 days are up, it is possible to reactivate your account so you can use it again. To reactivate your account, head to X.com or the X app and login with your credentials. You'll be asked if you want to reactive your account. Once you confirm that you do, you'll be logged in and be able to post and view your timeline. X notes that some of your account features like followers and likes may take a while to fully restore. Is all of your information actually deleted when your X account is deleted? While deactivating your X account and letting it be deleted does remove all of the public-facing parts of your social media presence, X does keep some of your information to "ensure the safety and security of its platform and people using X." The full list of data X collects and how it uses it is available in X's data processing explainer, as far as you should be concerned, though, a deleted account is gone. This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/social-media/how-to-delete-your-twitter-or-x-account-185813976.html?src=rss
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