Artificial intelligence has produced some notably strange answers as chatbots become prevalent. Recently, Reddit Answers has come under scrutiny after a moderator flagged the AI tool for giving potentially harmful medical advice that could not be hidden or disabled.
The moderator reported that Reddit Answers suggested individuals suffering from chronic pain discontinue their prescribed medications and instead use high-dose kratom, an unregulated substance that is banned in certain states. Upon further inquiries, the user received possibly harmful recommendations for treating neonatal fever alongside some accurate advice, as well as indications that heroin could be an option for chronic pain relief. Many other moderators, particularly from health-focused subreddits, voiced their concerns in response to the original post, highlighting the lack of tools to manage or flag inaccurate or dangerous information when provided by Reddit Answers.
In a statement to 404 Media, a Reddit representative indicated that Reddit Answers had been updated to alleviate some concerns raised by moderators. “This update ensures that ‘Related Answers’ for sensitive topics, which may have been previously visible on the post detail page (commonly referred to as the conversation page), will no longer be displayed,” the spokesperson stated. “This change has been implemented to improve user experience and manage appropriate content visibility on the platform.” We have reached out to Reddit for further clarification regarding the topics being excluded but are awaiting a response.
While the representative told 404 Media that Reddit Answers “excludes content from private, quarantined, and NSFW communities, along with some mature subjects,” the AI tool does not appear to be adequately equipped to provide accurate medical information, let alone address the sarcasm, jest, or potentially poor advice typical in other Reddit discussions. Beyond the recent initiative to obscure “sensitive topics,” it seems Reddit does not intend to offer any tools to manage when or how AI is utilized in subreddits, which could complicate moderation efforts significantly.