r/AskModerators • u/OrbitalColony • 6d ago

Will AI replace moderators?

Reddit's been rolling out automated AI mod features. It's clearly being trained on the data generated from 20 years of mod logs. Is Reddit about to just replace us soon? It makes me somewhat hesitant to continue growing my subreddits, when the company might just decide to hand the keys over to an LLM. Thoughts?

0 Upvotes

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24

u/westcoastcdn19 Janny flair 🧹 6d ago

No. They get our human labour at no cost. Why would they give that up?

8

u/BravoFive141 Jellybean Master. 6d ago

All the AI stuff definitely makes me a bit leery, but your point is how I keep looking at it. Why would they replace mods who do everything for free with a system they'd have to pay for constantly?

Then again, when does Reddit ever make smart decisions?

3

u/KCJones99 6d ago

Mods aren't no cost. They're unpaid, but not no-cost.

Think how many admins they could lay off if there were no more MCOC complaints to review?

Think how many admins they could lay off if there were no /modsupport issues to deal with. Nobody trying to get 'all' rights b/c inactive top mod, etc.

Think how many people they could lay off if there were no more mod events, mod outreach, etc.

Think how many times mods get a modmail threatening to sue, etc. and say "contact reddit legal"... how many lawyers could they lay off w/o that?

ETC ETC

Reddit is a pretty 'thin' organization. Only about 2,500 actual employees. Dump just a hundred or two of those and the stock market gonna LOVE that... and guess what's A#1 concern by reddit corporate these days...

Mods are not no-cost.

-2

u/lobaway0001 6d ago

Yes, but at that point aren't you just interpreting "no-cost" to some illogical extreme?

They could just not review the MCOC complaints. They could just not deal with the /modsupport issues. They could just not have mod events, mod outreach. And you're assuming it's solely because of the existence of mods that leads to people threatening to sue.

Do all that and you'd still probably have people volunteering to be mods.

You might as well say unpaid volunteers at the homeless shelter are not no cost because their body heat drives up air conditioning expenses.

If it makes you feel better you can interpret what is meant as "moderators clearly bring more value than they cost" or "the value moderators provide are obtained at no direct cost".

2

u/new2bay 6d ago

If they don’t want to replace us, what’s the purpose of all these AI things we neither need nor want to use?

-8

u/OrbitalColony 6d ago

Because human moderators are capable of doing something like the API strike a few years ago. Or coordinating on causes and messaging that corporate might not like. AI doesn't mutiny.

7

u/MavisBeacons_Sextape 6d ago

AI does and has mutinied - if you google it, you’ll find incident reports

7

u/westcoastcdn19 Janny flair 🧹 6d ago

something like

All those things mods did to shut down their communities are no longer doable. We can’t turn our subs private, make them NSFW, or mess with settings that can harm our communities. Nor can inactive mods wake up and punt every last mod standing. And if you try, Mod Code of Conduct will ruthlessly remove you and potentially ban your Reddit account.

0

u/KCJones99 6d ago

Which is actually the best argument FOR them eventually wanting rid of mods and/or totally crippling their control.

The fact they saw behavior they didn't like and then blocked it shows the intent. What do you think happens the next time they don't 'like' something mods can do?

16

u/Kellogzx 6d ago

I don’t like AI and think it would struggle with a LOT of subreddits. I also think it would be a huge own goal for Reddit to remove human moderation for their own business. The reason it’s been able to link with Google to have Reddit links come up is because people want that. People want other people to respond to questions not AI. There’s a reason people who don’t even use Reddit Google “how do I XYZ reddit”. And that is because people want information from other people. Specifically advice. That’s Reddit’s largest selling point nowadays. So to remove the human moderation would probably lead to less human interaction which would lead to Reddit loosing its unique point of interest on the internet. Or at least in my opinion.

5

u/MisterWoodhouse /r/gaming | /r/DestinyTheGame | /r/Fallout 6d ago

Nope. AI moderation is extremely terrible on every UGC platform that has implemented it, including Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn - obviously owned by tech giants with heavy AI investment. If those companies can’t get it right, Reddit has no chance.

13

u/thepottsy I is mod 6d ago

Not any time soon. The current AI being used for moderation does a pretty poor job a lot of the time. Human mods spend a fair amount of time fixing those issues, as well as doing the actual moderation work.

2

u/randonOne88 6d ago

I think i actually spend more time fixing the dumb ai moderation issues (despite having every setting I can find off for it) than actual moderation at this point

4

u/Subwoofiest 6d ago

If they intend that I will leave. Not just as a mod but altogether

3

u/neuroticsmurf Why do I do this shit for free??? 6d ago

It's clearly being trained on the data generated from 20 years of mod logs.

The training is only as good as the accuracy of the data inputs.

3

u/LPofPC 6d ago

Mods are free labor. If anything it'll replace the majority paid employees

3

u/SeaTurtlesCanFly 6d ago

Well, their anti-evil bot is horrible and removes, as far as I can tell, 50% normal comments. It's garbage. If they think they can replace us with such things, they are sniffing their own farts.

2

u/aengusoglugh Mod, r/TTRAK 6d ago

Hard to say — I would guess that Reddit keeps doing what they are doing as long as moderators are volunteers.

There is still dome cost to moderation by humans — but as long as the humans work for free, I would guess those costs are minimal.

2

u/HistorianCM r/Arcade1up (Alumni) | r/teacups (Alumni) 6d ago

As long as humans post, human moderators will be necessary to manage the community. Speech, slang, and social norms evolve quickly. Because AI models train on past data, they lag behind when deciphering a brand-new meme, a subtle dog whistle, or context-heavy sarcasm. An LLM cannot adapt fast enough to moderate real-time cultural shifts.

Accountability also matters. IBM noted, "A computer can never be held accountable; therefore, a computer must never make a management decision." Moderation requires making judgment calls. When a nuanced dispute arises in a subreddit, handing the final say to an algorithm damages community trust because there is no human accountability behind a ban or removed post.

Reddit's new AI tools will likely act as automated filters for spam and rule-breaking, clearing out the janitorial work. That leaves moderators to curate the culture of their subreddits.

2

u/No_Secret3706 6d ago

I hope so 🙏🏼

2

u/MrsDirtbag 6d ago

I don’t know about actively replacing us with AI, but I think they definitely want an AI in place that they can fall back on if we start getting uppity.

2

u/Pedantichrist Everything 6d ago

They could replace policing, but moderation is also about community building, ABs without that we would lose the concept of subs and communities.

2

u/metisdesigns moddish 6d ago

OP, your subs have always been reddits subs.

The value they get out of mods moderating is a curated sub that people enjoy engaging with.

The value that mods get out of moderating is having access to that community, and ensuring that it stays on brand for the community.

AIs are not going to replace the need for humans to come up with ideas. But if I don't have to remove 10 rule breaking posts a day, or explain what a meme is to someone in modmail, I might actually be able to talk to folks in comments a sub again.

2

u/003402inco 6d ago

I believe in its current state, no. It is wrong frequently. Yes eventually for some of our tasks like posts. I don’t think it could manage mod mail. I am out of it becomes too onerous.

2

u/Mycatreallyhatesyou 6d ago

A growing number of posters are AI so just make the whole site ai.

2

u/parkerm1408 6d ago

Yeah that ain't gonna happen

2

u/Duke_Newcombe 6d ago

No matter how often they examine or ape moderators, AI for the foreseeable future is absolutely horrible at nuance and context clues. I think the free labor of a moderator is safe for the near future. Plus, they have protein robots that help train the models for free, so that's a benefit to Reddit.

3

u/excoriator 6d ago

All we can infer from this move is that they will be taking the ability to automate some moderator decisions away from us.

0

u/OrbitalColony 6d ago

Tying our hands with AI oversight somehow feels worse than just kicking us out all together.

1

u/KCJones99 6d ago edited 6d ago

Will they try? Yes. At least to use it to drastically reduce the control of moderators.

Will it work? I doubt it. AI's nowhere near up to it yet. A wasteland of chaotic subs with no rhyme/reason to how they're modded.

Will we end up with some 'hybrid' where AI handles some things and mods others? Yes, and it's already happening. What do you think 'auto-enforce' is for rules? How long before the on/off toggle for that is permanently set to 'on'?

Will that hybrid lean toward AI in control and mods just the cleanup crew? Yes. Again, already happening. Look at what they just did to automod - they overtly removed the 'control' elements straight-up. IIRC they even called them the 'control' items. When someone tells you they're taking away your control... believe them. "First they came for the new subs only..."

Will I still be moderating at that point? Hell no. If we weren't 'grandfathered' into OG automod I'd already be gone. I might do my co-mods a favor and get automod-neo set up for them first... or maybe not because much as I like -neo, it's one API change away from being non-functional.

Will they go to full AI and/or fully-crippled mods anyway? FItty-fitty, IMO. If they do reddit will go the way of MySpace , Vine or Google+... and pretty quickly. Social Media users are fickle.

1

u/lilfunky1 6d ago

I would welcome our robot overlords.

1

u/Congregator 6d ago

This is interesting, but I hope not.

I was having a mature conversation with someone about how perspectives on words evolve over time and mentioned that, for example, the “r” word was thrown around so casually without considering the effects it might have on others.

Anyhow, I actually spelled out the “r” word in quotes, and my comment was deleted for harassment and bullying.

There was no harassment and bullying going on in the conversation, and figured if it were an actual person who had read the conversation no one would have had their comment deleted

1

u/2oonhed 6d ago

only if you let it

1

u/itskdog 6d ago

It's always at the back of my mind, especially given the "landed gentry" comments.

1

u/cnycompguy r/computers, r/cats +7 6d ago edited 6d ago

Eventually mods will go from actively enforcing rules to writing the community rules and letting the AI enforce them. Edge cases will still go to the mod queue but clear violations will be actioned automatically.

It's supposed to let mods actually have more time to participate in their subs instead of spending all their time being a janitor and losing touch with the community. Maybe it'll help with the stigma of being a reddit mod, but that'd take a few years of AI enforcement IMO

1

u/LitwinL r/Polska r/Fuckcars 6d ago

No, but as Spez said (or wrote) somewhere they're shifting focus from mods being the enforcers to mods growing and curating communities, as the biggest issue in moderating is burnout from veryfing content, content removals and all the nastiness in modmail.