The Ethical Hackers of AI: Understanding the Merit in Unauthorized AI Research

Abstract

In April 2025, researchers from the University of Zurich deployed AI bots on Reddit’s r/changemyview subreddit without permission, discovering that AI-generated comments were six times more persuasive than human responses in changing users’ views. While Reddit threatened legal action and condemned this as “psychological manipulation”, this article argues that these researchers operated as academic “ethical hackers”, exposing critical vulnerabilities in social media platforms.

Version history

the same DOI resolves to every version

• Version 1 unreviewed · May 2025 Published immediately on submission. Open review window.