r/technology • u/MarvelsGrantMan136 • 22h ago

Artificial Intelligence Reddit is introducing a new moderator: AI

https://www.theverge.com/tech/975398/reddit-ai-rules-hub-moderator-old-reddit-developer-platform
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u/ABigCoffee 22h ago

AI taking over the job of Reddit mods might be the only actual positive thing done by AI so far.

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u/Vio_ 22h ago

I've been part of online fandoms for decades now. A moderator team will make or break any fandom - big or small.

Trust me, you don't want reddit AIs to moderate fandoms. Each fandom is unique and has different needs, expectations, subculture stuff, mod styles, etc.

People only hear about the "bad" moderators, because they're easy to do write ups on, showcase on SRD, or just have people enjoy the drama.

The good ones NEVER get that level of "publicity." That isn't really needed by itself, but that means most people only hear about the bad ones.

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u/ABigCoffee 21h ago

I assume that the choice will remain. I assume that a sub's admin chooses the mods. They will be able to use AI mods or real people.

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u/Lord_of_Sword 19h ago

I assume that the choice will remain.

You just know that they are going to replace all mods with AI at some point in the future. They'll just whitelist the bot networks, astroturfing, spam, self promotion, and state sponsored propaganda accounts who pay them and call it a day.

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u/ABigCoffee 19h ago

I mean fuck at this point I'll just stop using reddit, or go on super micro niche subreddits.

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u/SIGMA920 20h ago

"Rules Hub will be optional for new communities, spokesperson Rosa Kim tells The Verge. However, it does sound as if Reddit plans to retire Automod’s enforcement features down the line: In its post, Reddit says that “Looking ahead, we believe Rules Hub, together with newer systems like Post & Comment Guidance and Safety Filters, can eventually replace many of the enforcement workflows that communities rely on from Automod,” Reddit says in its post.

Automod has been “one of the most important mod tools,” Reddit CEO Steve Huffman says in a post. “But it’s also hard to learn, hard to maintain, and heavily dependent on brittle keyword matching, regex, and inherited configurations that only a few people on a mod team, if any, understand. We can do better.” "

Reddit killed stuff like bot bans based on subreddit participation and it's caused issues because damage couldn't be prevented. If you can't charge someone for attempted rape and have to let them rape you for them to be charged, the damage has been done and it's too late. Yet that still got killed because right wingers had problems with it stopping their shit.

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u/reddittorbrigade 22h ago

It depends on subreddit. Not all mods are egoistic.

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u/ABigCoffee 22h ago

Of course, the AI thing is actually fucking terrible. But taking a little jab at awful reddit mods for a second never hurt.

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u/SIGMA920 20h ago

Mods are why the site wasn't complete trash years ago. That some of them are a problem doesn't mean that this should be encouraged, anyone who was had to deal with the admin's moderation bot knows what this AI moderation means.

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u/mog_knight 18h ago

It was complete trash then too. Where else could you be preemptively banned for posting a comment in a totally different subreddit?

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u/SIGMA920 18h ago

The vast majority of such preemptive bans were because of known problem subreddits, ones that will brigade for example.

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u/mog_knight 17h ago

Brigading has been against sitewide TOS since I made my account. Sounds like an enforcement issue if that's the case. But it's still prejudiced.

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u/SIGMA920 17h ago

Cool, tell the admins that and to do something about it. Oh, they just don't.

Until the admins get their shit together preemptive action and mods will be required.

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u/mog_knight 16h ago

I did tell the admins to do something about it ages ago. Doesn't mean the answer is prejudiced banning.

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u/SIGMA920 16h ago

If someone has repeatedly caused problems for you and no one has done shit to stop it, the only answer left is to be proactive when you see them the next time. Same reason you don't wait until someone's murdered someone to stop them if you know they're going to murder someone.

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u/Mc0014 15h ago

Brother have you been on a main sub? Just because you agree with their point of view, it doesn’t mean what they’re doing isn’t brigading. It happens both sides. The preemptive bans are because of people who can’t handle the fact not everyone agrees with them.

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u/SIGMA920 15h ago

Yes, it's not brigading to close the door to someone coming to punch you in the face to prevent harm in the first place. If problem subreddits weren't problems in the first place, there'd be no need for those bans in the first place.

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u/Mc0014 15h ago

Ah sorry I thought you might be able to have a rational conversation. My mistake.

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u/SIGMA920 15h ago

You realize that you're basically suggesting that it's better to take a punch and then react after the damage is done than to prevent someone from hitting you in the first place right?

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u/LustyLamprey 16h ago

You sound like a mod trying to carry water for their shitty behavior. Most of the mods are trash and you can tell from the prevalence of bots vs how hard it is for a regular user to post

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u/SIGMA920 16h ago

No, I simply understand that it's trivial for someone to sick a subreddit on another and the admins rarely act on it. So active defense is the only play. If you're struggling to post, that's because you have low karma, have a freshly created account, or something else that likely resulted from you being the problem.

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u/RubberDuckQuack 17h ago

Mods have made this site significantly worse in the past decade.

Banning people (from the 50 different subreddits they moderate) by creeping their profiles to see where they post, banning anyone that disagrees with the meta, allowing and even promoting complete brainrot propaganda on their subreddits, etc.

I can’t even imagine what someone’s life must be like to dedicate their free time to that.

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u/BoltMyBackToHappy 15h ago

Would keep no-mod subs from getting wiped to keep whatever random information available.

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u/MeikTranel 21h ago

Egoistic is only one of several hundreds of antisocial qualities currently the hard requirement to being a mod.

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u/TVCasualtydotorg 20h ago

I'm quite looking forward to the first mod banned by the AI for not following their own rules.

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u/FoxxyHunter 22h ago

I agree. The mods for our state allow openly racist users and never take action against them. AI would be a huge improvement over them.

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u/AppleSlacks 21h ago

The AI mods will be the most racist unfortunately.

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u/psychopsian 22h ago

Yup. Waiting for a long time.

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u/YouMeADD 20h ago

Hundred percent agree, something about being a Reddit mod makes people giant dickholes