Signal #121336POSITIVE

How Far Did They Go? The Persuasive Tactics of Covert LLM Agents in a Discontinued Field Experiment

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arXiv:2606.05256v1 Announce Type: new Abstract: This study analyzes a publicly released dataset from a discontinued field experiment on Reddit's r/ChangeMyView. The intervention, conducted by unknown, external researchers and halted following ethical backlash, involved undisclosed AI-generated accounts engaging users in live debate. After public disclosure, Reddit authorized moderators to release an archive of the AI-generated comments, creating a rare opportunity to examine how large language models operated in an identity-rich deliberative forum without disclosure. We conduct a structured content analysis of this corpus, evaluating identity performance, authority signaling, alignment strategies, and activation of cognitive heuristics. Identity targeting or adoption appears in over two-thirds of comments, alignment moves and authority claims in nearly all of them, and cognitive-bias triggers -- particularly confirmation bias, representativeness, and availability -- in the large majori...

arXiv AI Latestabout 3 hours ago
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How Far Did They Go? The Persuasive Tactics of Covert LLM Agents in a Discontinued Field Experiment | Steek AI Signal | Steek