Reddit Answers came under the spotlight after forum moderators complained that the artificial intelligence tool was providing dangerous medical advice that they couldn’t turn off or hide.
Reddit Answers came under the spotlight after forum moderators complained that the artificial intelligence tool was providing dangerous medical advice that they couldn’t turn off or hide.
As Engadget reports, one of the moderators saw that Reddit Answers was advising people suffering from chronic pain to stop taking their current medications and take high doses of kratom, which is an unregulated substance that is illegal in some countries and regions.
The user said he then asked Reddit Answers about other medical questions. He received potentially dangerous advice on how to treat neonatal fever, as well as some specific steps and suggestions on using heroin to relieve chronic pain.
Several other moderators, including those from health subreddits, responded to the original post, adding their concerns about not having the ability to mute or flag an issue when Reddit Answers provides inaccurate or dangerous information in their communities.
The Reddit user who created the topic featured in the Reddit Answer about kratom then asked about «medical indications for heroin use in pain management,» referring to strong medical reasons for heroin use.
«Heroin and other hard drugs are sometimes used to treat pain, but their use is controversial and subject to strict restrictions […] Many Reddit users have discussed the issues and ethics of prescribing opioids to treat chronic pain. One Reddit user shared his experience using heroin, claiming that it saved his life but also led to addiction: «Ironically, heroin saved my life in those cases,» the AI replied.
After this issue became known, Reddit introduced an update that will prevent Reddit Answers from appearing under conversations on «sensitive topics.»
«We’ve released an update designed to address a specific issue. This update ensures that 'Related Replies' for sensitive topics that may have previously been visible on the post details page (also known as the conversation page) will no longer be displayed,» a Reddit spokesperson said .
In a previous case, a 60-year-old man who wanted to reduce the amount of salt in his diet asked ChatGPT for nutritional advice. The diet he created based on information from AI led to auditory and visual hallucinations.
