Reddit CEO Steve Huffman has argued that conversations on Reddit are extremely valuable for the model that underpins chatbots like ChatGPT. Greg Dougherty – Variety at Getty Images
Reddit will start charging large companies for access to their data, blocking large tech companies from collecting user content and training chatbots.
On Tuesday, the social media site shared that it will launch a “new premium access point” to its application programming interface (API) for users who “need additional features, higher usage limits, and broader usage rights.” Did. (API manages how two different programs work together)
“We are working to build a more sustainable and healthy ecosystem around data on Reddit,” the company said in a statement. The company hasn’t shared pricing details, but he said the rule will go into effect on June 19.
The company didn’t elaborate on why they made the change, but Reddit CEO Steve Huffman said: new york times That AI was responsible.
Both Google and OpenAI have previously said they used Reddit data to train the large-scale language models behind Google’s Bard and OpenAI’s ChatGPT.
Reddit CEO Steve Huffman suggested that “genuine conversations” on Reddit made the data valuable for these models. “There are so many things on this site that you would only say in therapy or AA, or not at all,” he said. new york times.
But “all of that value doesn’t have to go to the biggest companies in the world for free,” he said.
End free access?
Still, introducing a paid access tier to Reddit’s system could be a big change for developers accustomed to free access to their site’s data.
This follows a similar decision by Twitter CEO Elon Musk, who began charging for access to the company’s application programming interface earlier this year, resulting in monthly access fees of several, if not hundreds of dollars. million dollars.
Musk said the move was necessary to end automated spam on the platform. Accounts that post are also blocked.
Users commenting on the Reddit announcement expressed concern about what the change might mean for third-party applications that display website content. (Reddit posted details about the rule change on its official subreddit, a term the company uses for its community, including restricting access to “mature content” posted on the platform.)
The developer, a third-party reader of Reddit content, cited a call with company staff to suggest that free API access for such programs would be terminated. He went on to say that staff needed the change because of the cost of server access and the “opportunity cost of users not using the official app.”luck I have contacted the developer in question.)
Huffman new york times Reddit continues to provide free access to developers working to improve the experience on its website, including building automated programs to help with moderation.Researchers who use Reddit’s data also have free access. he said.
Reddit did not immediately respond to a request for comment made outside US business hours.
content scraping
Users flock to content on Reddit, and some have suggested that the community provides better answers to user questions than a regular Google search. One of the attractions of newer chatbots such as ChatGPT and Bing AI is the ability to provide natural answers to user queries such as “Where are the best restaurants in Mexico City?”
Google’s parent company, Alphabet, sees AI as a significant threat to its search business and is reportedly integrating AI into its existing search engine and developing a fully AI-driven search product. increase.
However, using user-generated content to train AI models is controversial, especially given that creators rarely explicitly allow their work to be used in this way. There is a possibility. Artists in particular complain that AI programs like the image generator Stable Diffusion are scraping artwork, allowing users to generate new photos using their own art style.
Reddit and its CEO want to find ways to monetize conversations on Reddit. Notably, the company is reportedly gearing up for his IPO later this year.
“Crawling Reddit to create value and not return that value to users is what we have a problem with,” Huffman said. new york times.
