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SAS is making a significant push towards accountable AI agents, emphasizing ethical oversight and governance within its SAS Viya platform. At SAS Innovate 2025 in Orlando, the company outlined its vision for intelligent decision automation, highlighting its long-standing work in this area. Unlike other tech vendors focused on quantity, SAS CTO Bryan Harris stresses the importance of decision quality, arguing that the value of decisions to the business is the key metric. SAS defines agentic AI as systems that blend reasoning, analytics, and embedded governance to make autonomous decisions with transparency and human oversight when needed.
SAS views Large Language Models (LLMs) as valuable but limited components within a broader AI ecosystem. Udo Sglavo, VP of applied AI and modeling R&D at SAS, describes the agentic AI push as a natural evolution from the company's consulting-driven past. SAS aims to take its extensive IP from solving similar challenges repeatedly and incorporate it into software products. This shift from services to scalable solutions is accelerated by increased customer comfort with prepackaged models, leading to wider adoption of agent-based systems. SAS emphasizes that LLMs are only one piece of a larger entity, stating that decision quality and ethical considerations are paramount. Bryan Harris noted that LLMs can be unpredictable, which makes them unsuitable for high-stakes applications where auditability and control are critical. The focus on accountable AI agents ensures that enterprises can deploy AI systems that act autonomously while maintaining the necessary transparency and oversight. Recommended read:
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@the-decoder.com
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University of Zurich researchers have sparked controversy by conducting an unauthorized AI experiment on Reddit's r/ChangeMyView. The researchers deployed AI chatbots, posing as human users, to engage in debates and attempt to influence opinions. The AI bots, some adopting fabricated identities and experiences, even impersonated sensitive roles like sexual assault survivors and individuals opposing the Black Lives Matter movement. The experiment aimed to assess the persuasive capabilities of AI in a real-world setting, but the methods employed have triggered widespread ethical concerns and accusations of manipulation.
The experiment involved AI accounts posting 1,783 comments over four months, using both generic and personalized approaches. The "personalized" AI model analyzed users' post histories to tailor arguments based on factors like age, gender, and political orientation. The results showed that AI bots achieved significantly higher persuasion rates than human users, with the personalized AI reaching an 18 percent success rate, surpassing the 99th percentile of human users in changing perspectives. This raised alarms about the potential for AI to be used for disinformation campaigns and undue influence. Reddit has condemned the experiment as "deeply wrong on both a moral and legal level" and is considering legal action against the University of Zurich and its researchers. The unauthorized use of AI bots violated r/ChangeMyView's rules, which prohibit undisclosed AI-generated content. Reddit moderators expressed outrage that the researchers did not seek permission for the study and misrepresented its ethical nature by omitting the rule violations from their research paper. The university is facing intense scrutiny for the researchers' actions, and the controversy highlights the growing need for ethical guidelines and oversight in AI research, particularly when it involves interacting with and potentially manipulating human users without their knowledge or consent. Recommended read:
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@the-decoder.com
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Researchers at the University of Zurich have faced criticism after conducting an unauthorized experiment on Reddit's r/ChangeMyView subreddit. The experiment involved deploying AI chatbots to engage with human users and attempt to change their opinions on various topics. The researchers aimed to assess the persuasive capabilities of large language models in a real-world setting, using AI-powered accounts to post comments and track the success of these interventions based on "Deltas," a symbol awarded when a user's perspective is demonstrably changed. The use of AI bots without user knowledge or consent raised significant ethical concerns.
Over a four-month period, the AI bots posted nearly 1,800 comments, testing generic, community-aligned, and personalized AI approaches. The personalized AI, which tailored arguments based on users' inferred personal attributes, achieved the highest persuasion rates, significantly outperforming human users. In some cases, the bots adopted fabricated identities and experiences to make their arguments more convincing. The revelation that the researchers used AI to manipulate Reddit users has sparked a backlash, leading to the study being scrapped and potential legal action from Reddit due to violations of platform policies and ethical boundaries. Reddit is considering legal action against the University of Zurich and its researchers, citing that the experiment was morally and legally wrong. The study's termination and the potential for legal ramifications highlight the challenges surrounding AI ethics in social experiments and the importance of transparency and user consent. The incident has ignited a debate about the responsible use of AI in online communities and the potential for AI-driven disinformation campaigns. Recommended read:
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@the-decoder.com
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A team at the University of Zurich has sparked controversy by conducting an unauthorized AI ethics experiment on Reddit's /r/ChangeMyView subreddit. From November 2024 to March 2025, researchers deployed dozens of undisclosed AI bot accounts to engage in debates with real users, attempting to influence their opinions and gauge the effectiveness of AI in changing perspectives. The experiment involved AI-generated comments that were reviewed by human researchers before posting, purportedly to ensure the content was not harmful or unethical.
However, the experiment has drawn criticism for violating Reddit's community rules against AI-generated content and raising serious ethical concerns about transparency, consent, and potential psychological manipulation. Moderators of /r/ChangeMyView discovered the experiment and expressed their disapproval, highlighting the risks of using AI to influence opinions without the knowledge or consent of the participants. An example of the issues raised was that one AI bot, under the username markusruscht, invented entirely fake biographical details to bolster its arguments, demonstrating the potential for deception. The University of Zurich has acknowledged that the experiment violated community rules but defended its actions, citing the "high societal importance" of the topic. They further claimed that the risks involved were minimal. This justification has been met with resistance from the /r/ChangeMyView moderators, who argue that manipulating non-consenting human subjects is unnecessary, especially given the existing body of research on the psychological effects of language models. The moderators complained to The University of Zurich, who so far are sticking to their reasoning for this experiment. Recommended read:
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