Reddit uncovers secret AI persuasion experiment

Good morning, AI enthusiasts. Reddit users just discovered they were lab rats in an unauthorized AI experiment, with Zurich researchers deploying chatbots across the /ChangeMyMind subreddit that racked up 1000’s of upvotes.

With the bot responses proving 6x more persuasive than human comments and going completely undetected, it’s clear our online spaces have never been more vulnerable — and AI’s ability to shift public discourse is barely getting stronger.

In today’s AI rundown:

• Secret AI experiment on Reddit users

• Meta’s latest AI assistant, Llama API access

• Add OpenAI’s o4-mini model to your projects

• AI reveals hidden reason for Alzheimer’s

• 4 latest AI tools & 4 job opportunities

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS

REDDIT & UNIVERSITY OF ZURICH

🤖 Secret AI experiment on Reddit users

The Rundown: Reddit just revealed that researchers from the University of Zurich conducted an unauthorized AI experiment on its r/changemyview community, using chatbots that engaged in debates about sensitive topics to check persuasion capabilities.

The main points:

• The researchers deployed AI responses across greater than 1,700 comments, with bots impersonating identities including trauma survivors and counselors.

• A separate AI system was used to investigate users’ posting histories to capture personal details like age, gender, and political opinions for targeted responses.

• The experiment’s results, though not peer-reviewed, revealed that targeted AI responses were 6x more persuasive than the common human comment.

• Reddit’s Chief Legal Officer announced legal motion against the researchers, calling the experiment “deeply incorrect on each moral and legal levels.”

• The University of Zurich has also halted publication of the research results and launched an internal investigation.

Why it matters: Ethical violations aside, the incontrovertible fact that these AI-generated comments went each unnoticed and garnered major support shows how easily coordinated bots can influence public discourse. While social media already had this problem, AI is ready to massively scale each the standard and quantity of sophisticated manipulation tactics.

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META

🦙 Meta’s latest AI assistant, Llama API access

The Rundown: Meta just made a series of AI announcements at its first LlamaCon developers event, including a standalone app for its Meta AI assistant with upgraded personalization, a brand new Llama API preview, and AI security tools.

The main points:

• The brand new app leverages Llama 4, learns user preferences, and accesses profile info (if permitted) to supply more personalized and context-aware responses.

• It also emphasizes voice interaction alongside text input, image generation, and a social “Discover” feed for prompts.

• Meta also released the Llama API as a limited free preview, allowing developers to construct using the newest Llama 4 Scout and 4 Maverick models.

• Recent security tools include Llama Guard 4 and LlamaFirewall, with a Defenders Program giving select partners access to AI-enabled security evaluation tools.

• Mark Zuckerberg appeared on the Dwarkesh Podcast ahead of LlamaCon, hitting on topics including open source, Chinese competition, AGI, and more.

Why it matters: Llama’s over 1B downloads already show it’s a key cog in lots of users’ AI experiences, with a personalization factor from Meta’s data and app ecosystem that is tough to match. The brand new API brings a two-pronged approach to Llama — providing capable models for the masses and empowering builders to create with them.

AI TRAINING

🚀 Add OpenAI’s o4-mini model to your projects

The Rundown: On this tutorial, you’ll learn how you can use OpenAI’s o4-mini API to integrate powerful AI reasoning capabilities into your existing projects, with a low price and a high throughput.

Step-by-step:

1. Obtain an API key from OpenAI’s platform by making a latest secret key in your account dashboard.

2. Arrange your environment in Google Colab and install the OpenAI library with pip install openai.

3. Implement the API call by importing the OpenAI client, setting your API key, and making a completion with the o4-mini model.

4. Customize the content prompt to your needs and create reusable functions to integrate the model’s capabilities throughout your project workflow.

Pro tip: You can even reduce costs during development by testing with shorter outputs and fewer API calls before scaling up your implementation. Here’s a starting template, just be sure that so as to add your personal API key.

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AI RESEARCH

🧠 AI reveals hidden reason for Alzheimer’s

The Rundown: UC San Diego researchers just used AI to find a surprising latest reason for Alzheimer’s disease, identifying a gene’s previously unknown function — while also discovering a possible treatment that may very well be taken as a straightforward pill.

The main points:

• Scientists used AI imaging to find that a typical protein (PHGDH) has a hidden ability to interfere with brain cell functions.

• This interference results in early signs of Alzheimer’s, something traditional lab methods had missed for years.

• The team found that an existing compound, NCT-503, can stop the harmful protein behavior while allowing it to proceed its normal functions within the body.

• The compound showed promising leads to mouse trials, with treated animals demonstrating improvements in each memory and anxiety-related symptoms.

• Unlike existing infusion treatments, the brand new drug may very well be taken as a pill, and prevents damage before it occurs quite than attempting to reverse it.

Why it matters: Uncovering a hidden role for a protein scientists have studied for many years shows just how much stays invisible to human eyes alone — with AI-guided advances set to fast-track each medical discovery and drug development for the world’s most complex disorders and diseases.

QUICK HITS

🛠️ Trending AI Tools

• 🤖 Qwen3 – Alibaba’s latest open-weights model family with hybrid considering

• 🔎 ChatGPT Search – Improved shopping UX, citations, and WhatsApp support

• 🎥 Ray2 Camera Concepts – Advanced camera control now available via API

• 🎬 Higgsfield Iconic Scenes – Re-create movie scenes using a single selfie

💼 AI Job Opportunities

• 🗂️ UiPath – Project Manager

• 🎉 Runway – Event Marketing Manager

• 🧠 Meta – AI Research Scientist

• 🤝 Glean – Business Development Representative

📰 The whole lot else in AI today

Elon Musk said Grok 3.5 launches next week to SuperGrok users, adding it’s the primary to “accurately answer technical questions on rocket engines or electrochemistry.”

Sam Altman announced that OpenAI has officially rolled back GPT-4o following its personality issues, with broader fixes and findings being released later this week.

Mastercard introduced Agent Pay, a brand new agentic payments program that permits AI agents to securely complete purchases, with Microsoft as its first major partner.

Yelp is testing a series of latest AI features, including an AI-powered service that permits restaurants to field phone calls using an AI voice agent.

The Trump administration may soon replace the Biden-era AI chip export control system, potentially moving to licensing deals with specific countries over broad tiers.

Google announced that its podcast-generating Audio Overviews feature is expanding to over 50 languages for simple creation of multilingual content.

COMMUNITY

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Join our next workshop this Friday, May 2nd, at 4 PM EST with Dr. Alvaro Cintas, The Rundown’s AI professor. By the top of the workshop, you’ll confidently find a way to make use of Google NotebookLM to enhance your research, studying, and teaching.

RSVP here. Not a member? Join The Rundown University on a 14-day free trial.

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See you soon,

Rowan, Joey, Zach, Alvaro, and Jason—The Rundown’s editorial team