Reddit debuts AI-powered discussion search—but will users prefer it?

The corporate then went on to strike deals with major tech firms, including a $60 million agreement with Google in February 2024 and a partnership with OpenAI in May 2024 that integrated Reddit content into ChatGPT.

But Reddit users have not been entirely glad with the deals. In October 2024, London-based Redditors began posting false restaurant recommendations to govern search results and keep tourists away from their favorite spots. This coordinated effort to feed misinformation into AI systems demonstrated how user communities might intentionally “poison” AI training data over time.

The potential for trouble

While it’s tempting to lean heavily into generative AI technology while it’s currently trendy, the move could also represent a challenge for the corporate. For instance, Reddit’s AI-powered summaries could potentially draw from inaccurate information featured on the positioning and supply incorrect answers, or it could draw inaccurate conclusions from correct information.

We are going to regulate Reddit’s recent AI-powered search tool to see if it resists the variety of confabulation that we have seen with Google’s AI Overview, an AI summary bot that has been a critical failure up to now.

Advance Publications, which owns Ars Technica parent Condé Nast, is the most important shareholder of Reddit.