Reddit is 20 years old, and it’s great on AI

Reddit has become the place to go for non -filtered responses from real human users. But as the site celebrates its 20th anniversary this weekThe company is increasingly thinking about how it can increase this human work with AI.

The initial deployment of AI tools, like Reddit Answers, is to “go very well”, says Chris Slowe The penis. At a time when Google and its AI tools go to Reddit for human responses, Reddit goes to its own human responses to the characteristics of the power AI, hoping that they are the key to allowing people to unlock useful information from its huge treasure of messages and communities.

Reddit Answers is the first big element oriented by users of the company’s push. Like other AI research tools, Reddit Answers will display a summary generated by AI at a request. But Reddit also responds very well towards where the content comes from – and as a user, you also know that the link will tell you another place on Reddit instead of some garbage focused on the SEO. This also helps that quotes feel much more important than on tools like Google AI mode – a tool that news publishers have criticized as a “flight”.

“If you just want the short summary, that’s it,” says Slowe. “If you want to deepen, it’s an easier way to get started.”

In order for these AI responses to be useful, they must continue to be based on real human responses. Reddit must now be looking for comments and publications generated by the AI-infiltrating its site. This is an important thing for the platform to stay at the top, says Slowe: Reddit’s main advantage is that you can believe that a large part of what has been written by humans, and spam AI could erode this. “Confidence is an essential component of how Reddit works,” says Slowe. The platform also uses AI and LLM to help user moderation and safety.

The other half of the Reddit AI equation sells its own data, which is extremely precious for AI giants. Changes that have forced the notable applications to close and Stepped user protests stimulated (that Slowe called “an inconvenience that occurred about two years ago”) were positioned by CEO Steve Huffman as more ways to obtain AI companies Pony. And two of the largest companies have already done so, because Reddit reduced the AI ​​agreements with Google and OPENAI. But Reddit must also be looking for improper use of its data, the most recent repression being his trial against anthropogenic.

“In the end, we are not a charity,” says Slowe. Reddit wants to provide a service that people can use for free, “but don’t create your business on our back and expect what we are not trying to defend ourselves.”

However, with new research products fed by Google AI, Openai and others up, Reddit may be buried by AI summaries. And Reddit is experimenting with the research fueled on AI on its own platform. So what is the company’s objective for the future?

“Continue to allow Reddit to be Reddit,” says Slowe. “I think the underlying model for Reddit has not really changed since the first days.” The platform does not require real names (your username is a “coveted” thing that many people keep private, says Slowe), everything is focused on the text, and the reputation is more important than that you are; All these elements have marked “a drastic difference with the rest of the social media”.

Reddit also faces the competition from a slightly different angle: Digg, which is return With the support of the founder Kevin Rose and the co-founder of Reddit, Alexis Ohanian. Slowe had little to say about it, however. “I always like to see innovation and I always like to see new turns on old commercial models.”