<div dir="ltr"><div dir="auto"><div dir="auto"><div>I am neutral about this.</div><div dir="auto">In my mind, it does go over the line of acceptable use of Reddit: they were engaging with users and changing their opinions without explaining that this is an AI bot etc. <br>If Reddit allows this for one institution, the platform could become infested and some bots may not be as researchy and pure as, presumably, this study seems to be.<br><br></div><div>Michalis</div></div><br><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Wed, Apr 30, 2025, 10:11 AM Kevin M Esterling <<a href="mailto:kevin.esterling@ucr.edu" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">kevin.esterling@ucr.edu</a>> wrote:<br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">




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Yikes! See attached...</div>
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Kevin M. Esterling (he/him)</div>
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Chair of Political Science and Professor of Public Policy</div>
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Director, Laboratory for Technology, Communication and Democracy  (<a href="https://tecd-lab.ucr.edu/" id="m_3132975932630045953m_7460216585740515116m_-4628259713131831533OWA9dda15fa-dfa6-5031-ee96-13d6dbd8eb3c" title="https://tecd-lab.ucr.edu/" style="margin:0px" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">TeCD-Lab</a>)</div>
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University of California Riverside</div>
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Riverside, CA 92521 USA<br>
+1-951-827-5591</div>
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<a href="https://profiles.ucr.edu/kevin.esterling" id="m_3132975932630045953m_7460216585740515116m_-4628259713131831533OWA653ff030-f6f4-a935-ba25-5eaf79c1e049" style="margin:0px" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">https://profiles.ucr.edu/kevin.esterling</a></div>
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<span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">The TeCD-Lab | </span><span style="color:rgb(23,78,134)"><b><a href="https://tecd-lab.ucr.edu/prytaneum" id="m_3132975932630045953m_7460216585740515116m_-4628259713131831533OWA2d307e64-fa98-d4a7-468a-9d527e1df8d7" title="https://tecd-lab.ucr.edu/prytaneum" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">Prytaneum</a></b></span></div>
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(the only webinar platform that is motivated by democratic theory)</div>
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<div id="m_3132975932630045953m_7460216585740515116m_-4628259713131831533divRplyFwdMsg" dir="ltr"><font face="Calibri, sans-serif" style="font-size:11pt" color="#000000"><b>From:</b> Mark Long <<a href="mailto:mark.long@ucr.edu" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">mark.long@ucr.edu</a>><br>
<b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, April 30, 2025 9:57 AM<br>
<b>To:</b> Kevin M Esterling <<a href="mailto:kevin.esterling@ucr.edu" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">kevin.esterling@ucr.edu</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> Article that will be interesting to you</font>
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<div><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/04/30/reddit-ai-bot-university-zurich/" rel="noreferrer noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/04/30/reddit-ai-bot-university-zurich/</a></div>
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<div>See attached.</div>
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<p style="margin:0.04px"><span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(29,58,97)">Mark C. Long, </span><a href="https://spp.ucr.edu/mpp" rel="noopener noreferrer noreferrer noreferrer" style="color:rgb(17,85,204);margin:0px" target="_blank"><span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(29,58,97)">MPP</span></a><span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(29,58,97)">,
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<p style="margin:0.04px"><span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(0,48,102)">Dean & Professor, School of Public Policy</span></p>
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<span style="margin:0px;color:rgb(53,59,65)">INTS 4133 | <a href="https://www.google.com/maps/search/900+University+Ave.,+Riverside,+CA+92521?entry=gmail&source=g" rel="noreferrer" target="_blank">900 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92521</a></span></td>
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</blockquote></div><div data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div dir="ltr"><div><b><font color="#3333ff"><br></font></b></div><div><span style="font-size:12.8px"><font color="#888888"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><b><font color="#3333ff">Michalis Faloutsos</font></b></div><div style="font-size:12.8px">Professor at U. California Riverside Computer Science<br></div><div style="font-size:12.8px">Co-founder | Programize LLC       | <a href="http://www.programize.com/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">www.programize.com</a><br></div><div style="font-size:12.8px">Co-founder | StopTheHacker Inc. | <span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">acquired<br></span></div></font></span><span style="font-size:12.8px"><div style="font-size:12.8px"><a href="mailto:mfaloutsos@gmail.com" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)" target="_blank">mfaloutsos@gmail.com</a> | Mobile: <a value="+19519071501" style="color:rgb(17,85,204)">+1 951 907 1501</a></div><div style="font-size:12.8px"><b>Skype</b> mfaloutsos</div></span></div><div><br></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div>
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