Nandini Roy Choudhury, writer
Brief news
- Reddit is launching a new AI feature, Reddit Answers, to help users find solutions based on existing posts, initially available to a limited number of U.S. users.
- The AI tool generates responses from Reddit content, providing bullet-point suggestions and links to relevant posts, enhancing user engagement and search functionality.
- Reddit aims to convert logged-out users into registered members by improving search capabilities, with plans to expand Reddit Answers to Android and other languages soon.
Detailed news
According to a statement released by the firm on Monday, Reddit is introducing a new artificial intelligence function that will assist users in locating solutions to questions based on the posts made by other users.
An initial test will be conducted in which a limited number of Reddit users in the United States will have access to the Reddit Answers feature. This will take place before the firm rolls out the function to a wider set of users.
There is a new button on the site of the company that allows users to access Reddit Answers. Users who click on that button are taken to a page where they are able to pose questions to the artificial intelligence, just as they are able to do with ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other generative AI services.
Reddit’s AI-generated replies, in contrast to those generated by other AI-powered chat and search engines, are derived from posts in the platform itself, rather than from other websites on the internet.
If a user asks Reddit Answers how to make modifications to a specific BMW model, for example, the artificial intelligence tool will respond with a bullet-point list of suggestions, descriptions, and quotes from Reddit posts that are connected to the topic. Users can easily access the relevant Reddit post by tapping on the links that are included in the answers.
CNBC was informed by Reddit Vice President of Product Serkan Piantino that the business has been doing extensive testing of Reddit Answers for a period of six months. The feature is a component of Reddit’s aims to enhance the manner in which users search on the platform.
It is more about “building a bridge to the content than it is about being a replacement for it,” according to Piantino, who stated that Reddit Answers is more relevant. As opposed to only reading summaries provided by artificial intelligence, he stated that the business wants users to make advantage of the functionality in order to access other information on Reddit.
Using Reddit Answers, users will be allowed to ask questions about any subject, with the exception of those that are deemed inappropriate for work or NSFW, according to Piantino.
According to statements made by Reddit CEO Steve Huffman to investors in October, search is a “focused investment” for the company in 2025 because of its usability and the fact that it “helps new users find their home on Reddit.”
According to what Huffman said during the company’s earnings call for the third quarter, “It helps core users navigate Reddit, answer their questions, and it’s an opportunity to monetize.” “It is one of the few products that can be said to touch everything with its versatility.”
According to Piantino, Reddit Answers is constructed on top of the company’s already existing search architecture and utilizes artificial intelligence models sourced from OpenAI and Google Cloud. There are data-licensing agreements in place between the social media firm and both OpenAI and Google. These agreements allow the companies to pay Reddit for access to its data, which they can then use to build their own artificial intelligence models.
Reddit has become one of the most frequented websites through Google over the course of the past year. This is due to the fact that the company has implemented internal adjustments and Google has altered its algorithms to highlight “authentic” material from online forums. Because of this, Reddit has reported that it has noticed an increase in the number of new users who are not currently signed into their accounts on the network.
According to Reddit’s financials, the number of users who are not logged in has surpassed the number of users who are signed in since the fourth quarter of 2023. This is despite the fact that Reddit’s general user base has increased in tandem with the enhancements it has made to its Google search results. Reddit is unable to generate as much revenue from logged-out users as it does from logged-in users. As a result, the firm has released more tailored features with the intention of encouraging logged-out users to sign up for accounts.
In October, Huffman stated that “Reddit is the sixth most searched word on Google in the United States this year,” which means that the individuals in question are literally typing the word “Reddit” into Google searching engines. ‘They are aware that they are going to find themselves on that. In this particular instance, they are navigating Reddit with the help of Google.
Through the usage of Reddit Answers, the company may be able to increase the number of users that search for material on Reddit on the platform, hence decreasing the quantity of traffic that the company receives from Google. It is possible that new users will be persuaded to create accounts if they find the function to be fascinating.
In his statement, Piantino stated, “It is pretty clear that artificial intelligence has a place in search, and that is how we are thinking about this as well.”
At this time, Reddit Answers is only accessible in English for users of desktop and iOS platforms. However, according to Piantino, the business intends to expand the availability of the feature to include Android users as well as other languages in the near future.
Source: CNBC news
