Chatbots For Social Change/Jeremy Foote

This article details a conversation between Alec and Jeremy, focusing on their collaborative research into the use of chatbots for mediation and social impact in online communities. It first outlines their individual projects, shared interests, ethical considerations, technical challenges, and future steps in the realm of chatbots and large language models (LLMs).

Alec and Jeremy's dialogue represents a confluence of interdisciplinary research involving communication studies, artificial intelligence, and ethics. Their exchange sheds light on the potential of chatbots to reshape online interactions, the ethical implications of deploying such technologies, and the theoretical frameworks that support their usage.

Jeremy's Reddit Project

Jeremy's initiative aims to engage with Reddit users known for toxic commenting by offering them a chance to converse with a bot. This project is a partnership with a scientist studying toxicity and features three distinct approaches to interaction:

The default setting without specific behavioral nudges.
An approach that encourages adherence to Reddit's community norms.
A narrative storytelling mode prompting users to reflect on their behavior.

The goal is to monitor behavioral changes post-interaction to evaluate the effectiveness of each method.

User Response Categories During the project, Jeremy observed varied responses from users, which he categorized into:

Trolls who seek to provoke the bot.
Justifiers who defend their actions and challenge the bot's contextual understanding.
Good Faith Interactors who show genuine reflection and sometimes gratitude, raising concerns about the authenticity of their thanks during presentations.

Project Logistics and Concerns

The logistical aspects of the project, including the initial focus on text interactions due to the complexities of real-time voice generation.
The potential necessity of a network of specialized LLMs to handle diverse interaction scenarios.

Alec's Perspective and Project

Alec views these interactions as educational, employing varied conversational techniques to instill a lesson. His vision includes:

Utilizing chatbots to bridge individual perspectives, forming a social semantic database from these conversations.
Reflecting diverse viewpoints in societal discussions through bot-mediated dialogue.
Exploring data collection methods, including voice or text input, and the feasibility of debate-style interactions with bots.
Investigating the technical training of LLMs to support his envisioned semantic database.

Alec’s Expanded Vision

Alec's broader aim involves creating a universal mediator to enhance communication efficiency in society, tackle misinformation, and bridge strategic societal divisions.
His commitment to a non-interventionist and transparent approach.
He speculates on scaling the project with philanthropic funding.

Potential Applications and Ambitions

The concept of an AI politician and organizing collective actions through a chatbot.
A tool that could mediate conversations, reflecting multiple viewpoints for better societal understanding.

Ethical and Technical Considerations

Both researchers deliberate the importance of transparency when users are conversing with a bot, suspecting that such openness might improve the quality of conversations.

Ethical Justifications

The ethics of engaging with users, especially vulnerable populations, and the argument for universally respectful engagement.
The process of obtaining consent, as per the Institutional Review Board (IRB) protocols, via Reddit messages and linking to an informational page.

Technical Aspects

Discussion of the underlying technology, with Jeremy referencing GPT-3, and the importance of aligning the bot to ensure safe and kind responses.
Alec's emphasis on the technical knowledge required for training LLMs and the potential use of open-source alternatives that could run on personal computing resources.

Social Impact and Theoretical Foundations

The discussion also delves into the social and theoretical implications of using LLMs in online communities, referencing social capital theory and the potential for chatbots to mediate discussions that could lead to greater social cohesion.

Democratic Ideal and Simplified Solutions

The conversation touches on the democratic potential of enabling discussions between individuals with opposing views, and the possibility of chatbots mediating these exchanges to prevent devolution into partisanship.

Further Details

Evaluating Outcomes and Measurements

Insights into behavior change metrics are shared by Jeremy, with an estimate that around 10% of the users they reach out to agree to interact with the bot, and of these, 70% engage to some degree.

Experiment Design and Reddit's Role

The design of experiments to engage Reddit users, considering reaching out to Reddit users or moderators for participation without necessarily needing permission from Reddit itself.

Closing the Conversation

The conversation concludes with plans for Alec to submit his IRB proposal and for Jeremy to introduce Alec to a colleague interested in mediation using LLMs. They express a mutual interest in exchanging IRB materials and continuing their discussion on potential collaborations.

Potpourri of Relevant Facts

This section compiles specific facts and figures mentioned during the conversation that provide further depth and clarity to the projects and visions discussed by Alec and Jeremy.

Jeremy's project interaction rates indicate that approximately 10% of users they reach out to agree to interact with the bot. Of these interactions, about half are considered to be in good faith, with 70% engaging to some degree and a third displaying bad faith from the start.
Jeremy references the use of GPT-3 for his chatbot, but later clarifies that they are using GPT-3.5, which has undergone alignment to ensure safe responses.
Alec is considering using open-source alternatives to GPT-3 that could run efficiently on a Mac, suggesting a hands-on approach to prototyping and potential deployment.
Jeremy has contemplated investing in GPU resources to facilitate his project's technological needs.
Alec and Jeremy discuss the possibility of Alec collaborating with Josh Becker from UCL, a researcher with expertise in mediation, who has also shown interest in using LLMs in this context.
Alec is preparing to submit an IRB proposal and is considering how to structure the consent process, particularly for vulnerable populations.
Jeremy explains their approach to obtaining consent for their Reddit study through direct messages that link to an informative page, and they ensure users are aware that participation is limited to those over the age of 18.
Alec’s motivation for his project was further reinforced after reading "Dark Money" by Jane Mayer, which details the influence of the Koch brothers on American politics.
Alec and Jeremy contemplate the potential of LLMs like GPT-3.5 in the facilitation of insightful conversations and their significant contributions to the social sciences.
They also discuss the logistical challenges involved in real-time voice generation for chatbots and the possibility of defaulting to text messaging if the voice proves too complex.

The facts presented in this section not only contribute to the granularity of the projects discussed but also highlight the nuanced considerations taken by both researchers in their pursuit of innovative applications for chatbots and LLMs in enhancing online community interactions and societal communication.

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