Reddit Unveils AI-Powered 'Reddit Answers' to Revolutionize User Search Experience

Reddit to add new AI tool to get you the information you actually want

Reddit is full of great information, at least if you can find it. Now, the forum is testing an AI solution to dig up the actual information you are seeking in the depths of its threads. The new Reddit Answers tool, hinted at earlier this year, sorts through all those posts for you, filtering out any irrelevancy (or personal digression) in the way of what you're looking for. Reddit Answers has a simple premise: You ask Reddit a question, and Reddit Answers digs through relevant posts and threads to give you curated responses. No more clicking through page after page of search results -- just the insights, recommendations, and entertaining banter you're actually looking for. Say, for instance, you're planning a trip to Tokyo and want the best local food spots. Instead of scrolling through endless threads or posting a question and waiting hours for replies, you ask Reddit Answers, "What are the best hidden food gems in Tokyo?" The AI pulls together summaries from threads where people have already debated this topic, giving you a bite-sized collection of recommendations, complete with links to the original threads for deeper exploration. Whether you want ramen joints hidden in alleys, quirky cafes, or sushi spots only the locals know, Reddit Answers helps you zero in on what you need. Or maybe you're staring at a long row of wood and nail options at the hardware store because you believe you can build a backyard deck on your own. Instead of sifting through conflicting opinions, Reddit Answers might serve up a summary of tips from r/HomeImprovement, like which materials to use, what mistakes to avoid, and links to step-by-step guides posted by fellow DIYers. Of course, if the summaries only whet your appetite, you can get more in-depth. A quick round-up explaining why a particular movie from the '90s is having a resurgence in popularity is nice, but if you want to see all of the arguments, jokes, and debates that led to that conclusion, you can jump to the end of the original thread. It's like getting a highlight reel before deciding if you want to binge the whole series. Reddit Answers is only in testing right now and limited to the U.S. and in English. The company has plans for a wider rollout if the testing goes well. Reddit Answers also fits with Reddit's broader push to integrate AI across its services. Earlier this year, Reddit announced a partnership with OpenAI, allowing the AI powerhouse to train its models using Reddit's vast ocean of posts and comments. Combining AI and the content on Reddit makes sense since AI can be quite good at collecting information but not always great for people looking for specifics, especially on less active threads. But, with AI summaries and guidance, you might find a lot more people leaning on the Reddit community for advice on everything from their personal lives to what electronics to buy, the source of a weird noise in your car, or even just which website always has the best insight into new AI tools being released for you to find those answers (hint: you're already there).

Reddit's latest AI update makes finding the answers you want much easier

With the help of AI, Reddit Answers populates the content you need for any question you ask. Reddit continues to grow in popularity as a search engine alternative, with millions of Redditors contributing answers, perspectives, and summaries on the hottest topics. Now, the social platform is making it easier to find the insights you need with help from artificial intelligence (AI). Also: OpenAI's Sora AI video generator is here - how to try it On Tuesday, Reddit debuted Reddit Answers, a conversational interface where you can ask questions and receive AI-curated summaries of relevant conversations and details from content across Reddit, with links to the related posts and snippets: Users can then visit the full conversation from where the answers were generated using the inline footnotes or the area beneath the answer. Reddit shares that this experience is part of a longer-term vision to improve the Search experience on the platform, making it "faster, smarter, and more relevant." The advantage of using Reddit Search instead of a traditional search engine such as Google is that you get answers from posts and discussions made by real people, which can be especially handy when asking for recommendations or everyday perspectives on hot topics. Also: OpenAI's o1 lies more than any major AI model. Why that matters The experience is currently only available in early access and rolling out to a limited number of users in the US in English, with more to come in the future. You can click the "Keep me updated" button on the Reddit Answers webpage to receive the latest availability updates.

Reddit wants you to use its new AI instead of Googling things with the word 'Reddit' after them

Key Takeaways Reddit Answers offers curated summaries of Reddit conversations for quicker insights and allows follow-up questions. Reddit's partnership with Google for AI training on Reddit comments may have influenced the development of this search tool. The new Reddit search tool efficiently scans for relevant answers and provides prompts, potentially revolutionizing Reddit's search engine. ✕ Remove Ads The introduction of powerful, easy-to-use AI has bled over into every aspect of our lives. Even search engines are now using AI to quickly summarize search results and speed up the research process -- if only they worked correctly. Tools like Google's AI Overview are fast, but they're often inaccurate. In spite of these advances, most people still resort to their tried-and-true favorite way to search: typing something into Google and then adding the word "Reddit" after it. However, Reddit seemingly isn't a fan of that, so it has introduced its own AI-powered search function that dives into Reddit threads to find answers. Related The 4 best Reddit alternatives: Top picks to replace your subreddits Build your communities elsewhere now that most Reddit third-party clients are dead Posts ✕ Remove Ads Reddit Answers provides "curated summaries of relevant conversations and details across Reddit," according to the site's blog post revealing the update. What makes this useful isn't just that it can sort through irrelevant content and help you find what you need more quickly but also that you can jump into the conversations and ask follow-up questions for more clarification. The feature is currently rolling out to a limited number of users in the United States, although Reddit hasn't been clear about who qualifies to try it out (I'm in Atlanta, and it isn't live here yet). Anyone interested can go to the Reddit Answers site and sign up to be notified when the tool is available in your area. ✕ Remove Ads A better search tool for Reddit Google and Reddit formed a partnership earlier this year to train Google's AI on Reddit comments. The idea is that Reddit is one of the best sources for AIs to pull information from due to its up-to-the-minute nature, versus the risk of a language model pulling results from a website that's years out of date. It's possible that Reddit used the opportunity to begin work on its own AI, but it's also possible that this announcement was just coincidental timing; after all, it seems like every company out there is introducing an AI tool in one form or another. The tool will work by scanning Reddit for the most relevant answers to your question, but if you don't have anything in particular to ask, the tool suggests prompts for you to try. It's a powerful feature that could be used for everything from essay research to finding the solution to a really obscure hardware bug. The service is still in its early days, so things could change over time -- but this tool holds a lot of promise that could revolutionize Reddit's notoriously awful search engine. ✕ Remove Ads

Reddit Launches AI Tool to Revolutionize Search and Engagement

Reddit has unveiled a new AI-based feature called Reddit Answers to improve searching and discovery. The feature is set to test with only a few users in America and will likely increase users' coverage shortly. Based on Reddit's current search solution, the tool uses AI models created in collaboration with OpenAI and Google Cloud. Reddit Answers enables users to post questions and information that may be extracted from Reddit discussions and threads. It differs from most AI tools as it only utilizes Reddit content instead of searching through the web. For example, if a user enters a question asking how to fix a certain gadget, the AI creates tips and resumes based on the threads in this section and links to such threads. The tool guides users to browse Reddit for more information instead of receiving AI-generated responses. Users can access it via the Reddit homepage, which will involve a conversational interface like chat interfaces, ChatGPT, and Perplexity.

Reddit Launches AI-Powered Tool to Simplify Searches

Reddit is testing the launch of its in-house AI-powered search tool, Reddit Answers, allowing users to browse through information on any topic easily across the website. This "AI-powered conversational interface" seeks to curate summaries of relevant conversations and details sourced from Reddit, embedding links within them. Currently, Reddit Answers is being tested with a limited number of U.S. users in English, with plans for expansion to other languages and regions. In July 2024, in a crackdown on web crawlers, the platform blocked search engines from displaying posts and comments sourced from its website unless the search engine paid, 404 Media reported. Google subsequently signed a $60 million deal with the platform that allowed the tech giant to use its content to train AI models earlier in February. During the Q3 2024 Earnings Call, company CEO Steven Huffman called the relationship with Google "symbiotic", noting that the word "Reddit" is the sixth most searched word on Google in the U.S. this year. Additionally, Huffman elaborated on the different classes of users, such as those using Google with the intention to navigate Reddit, and others who make a general search on Google and later end up on Reddit. He disclosed this in response to a question about his comment on "Google is dying and people are depending on Reddit for their queries". However, the rollout of Reddit Answers could be viewed as a potential challenge to Google, allowing users to skip the search engine and receive information directly from the source, The Verge reported. AI-powered chatbots have raised concerns over inaccuracies and making false claims. For instance, Gemini AI Overview faced severe criticism for stating that users should eat at least one rock daily while responding to a query about the same. Sourcing this information from the satirical news website Onion.com, Gemini AI could not differentiate between humour/satire and fact/fiction. An investigation also found that Perplexity AI displayed inaccurate summaries of articles and generated false information, including fabricated quotes and events. Besides this, ChatGPT has come under fire for issues like hallucinating links to partner news organisations and for conjuring up false claims. Overall, such inaccurate claims and answers provided by the chatbots have led to the need for secondary verification of the information received. Essentially, despite Reddit Answers compiling summaries of relevant conversations and details across the platform, concerns over how AI evaluates the reliability of the various sources while responding would persist. When Reddit signed a deal with Google, it also raised questions about consent for utilising user-generated content to train the tech giant's AI models. Similar concerns may also arise regarding whether users consent to include their responses, ideally considered 'anonymous,' in Reddit Answers.

Reddit launches 'Answers' AI search tool to help solve your problems

Reddit wants to be a hub for your search needs. Credit: Silas Stein/picture alliance via Getty Images Reddit is launching an AI search tool to simplify all the instances in which you need to find an answer to a particular problem. We've all been there before -- usually, for me, it's some weird tech issue -- where you're in a pickle that seems resolvable only through the collective experience and knowledge of the Reddit hive-mind. The social media company's new AI tool, called Reddit Answers, aims to be the place you go for such searches instead of trawling through Google. Wrote the company in a blog post announcing the tool: "With Reddit Answers, redditors can ask questions and receive answers using a new, AI-powered conversational interface. Once a question is asked, curated summaries of relevant conversations and details across Reddit will appear, including links to related communities and posts. Redditors can easily read relevant snippets and answers inline from real redditors, jump into the full conversations, and go deeper in their search with their own or suggested follow-up questions." With Reddit Answers, you can search a specific problem and, theoretically, have the tool deliver conversational answers with direct links and quotes to actual Reddit posts. The Verge's Jay Peters got an early look at Reddit Answers and wrote they've "liked what [they've] seen" in limited testing. If you search Google for Reddit results, of course, it surfaces a bunch of links whereas Reddit Answers, in theory, makes it more digestible via summaries and bullet points. It's worth considering, however, that Reddit's AI tool could publish incorrect or incomplete summaries and answers -- pretty much every AI tool has had that issue. Reddit said it's rolling out Answers to a limited number of users, with English being the only available language for the time being. Interested Redditors can check the company's site to track if it's available in their area.

Reddit's New Tool Spits Out AI-generated Answers Based On Users' Posts

Reddit has a new AI tool called Reddit Answers, which is built and trained on user posts to give answers made by redditors, the social media and content sharing platform said in a press release on Monday. "People know that Reddit has answers, advice, and perspectives on almost anything they're looking for, and AI-powered search is part of our longer-term vision to improve the search experience on Reddit -- making it faster, smarter, and more relevant," the company said in the press release. Reddit Answers won't only help in answering question with expertise from its users, it'll also help search the site bypassing the need to Google questions with the word "Reddit" stamped on the end. Reddit Answers is rolling out to a limited number of users in the US with support for English. The initial rollout is available for users on web and iOS, with an Android version currently in the works, according to The Verge. Reddit didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Reddit Answers is the latest push by the sixth most trafficked website in the world to control how its content and data is used. As AI engines like ChatGPT, Google Gemini and Microsoft Copilot have been popping up, news sites, including Reddit, have begun blocking crawlers from sucking up their content to train and feed AI. Reddit does allow certain players to use its content for AI and search results, as long as they're willing to pay. Reddit even went so far as to block search engines from pulling up its content earlier this year. Back in July, Google made a deal with Reddit, reportedly worth up to $60 million, to use content from the site to train its AI. Google's agreements with Reddit not only allow the search engine to elevate better results from Reddit in Search, the social media site also was given access to Google's AI models. Even though Reddit has been around since 2005 and brings in over 100 million daily users, it only became profitable earlier this year. Given that it took 19 years for the site to reach profitability, it makes sense that Reddit would want to tighten controls over how its data is used rather than allowing outside firms to capitalize off its user-generated content and profit from that content.

Reddit Answers wants to compete with Google through AI: this is their proposal - Softonic

Reddit has fully embraced artificial intelligence with a move that aims to change the way we navigate its platform. The company has just introduced Reddit Answers, an AI tool that, thanks to its vast archive of discussions and comments, summarizes relevant conversations to answer our questions directly and clearly. Essentially, this new feature seeks to compete with giants like Google, but with a very particular focus: limiting itself solely to content generated within Reddit. Reddit Answers relies on an artificial intelligence model that draws from the millions of conversation threads on the platform to provide specific answers to our questions. Instead of simply showing us a list of links, this system generates a summary while directly guiding us to the most relevant communities and posts. All of this is complemented with several links so that we can delve deeper into the topic if we wish. Unlike other tools that integrate artificial intelligence, such as ChatGPT or Google's search systems, Reddit Answers focuses exclusively on the content that exists within its platform -- which others cannot access without paying -- . This is an advantage, from the company's point of view, if we are looking for authentic opinions, personal experiences, and detailed discussions on very specific topics. While Google focuses on covering the entire Internet, Reddit has decided to focus on what it does best: connecting millions of users in conversations about absolutely everything. Reddit Answers is available only in English and for users in the United States. The company has already confirmed that it will expand to other languages and regions soon, although we do not have exact dates for its availability. Although the idea behind Reddit Answers is interesting, especially for those of us who frequent the platform, its implementation also raises certain questions about the reliability of the answers. Reddit, like any other forum, hosts both quality content and erroneous or even malicious information. This is where one of the biggest challenges of this type of tool arises: preventing AI-generated summaries from including incorrect or biased information. While hallucinations -- the invention of data -- by AIs is something that affects the entire industry, it is true that, in terms of training, filtering sources from most to least credible and accurate within the internet -- where certain publications stand out -- is easier than in the environment of an open forum. Here, Reddit trusts in the power of its community to maintain quality content, as this aspect will be crucial for the success of Reddit Answers. At a time when artificial intelligence is redefining the way we search for information, Reddit Answers is a truly interesting option. The proposal does not seek to replace general search engines like Google, but rather to offer something they cannot match: a direct connection with experiences and discussions among people. This makes it a complementary tool, especially for topics where the value of personal experience and interaction outweighs that of technical or more generic information. This is something we are seeing with different AIs, which are fragmenting the way we access information by specializing. Reddit Answers is just the beginning. Reddit's commitment to artificial intelligence continues to evolve rapidly, and while there are still challenges to overcome, the company has the opportunity to redefine how we interact with its platform. From accessing specific communities to the ability to answer questions more accurately and quickly, Reddit Answers offers us a glimpse into the future of internet search.

Reddit tests a conversational AI search tool

As more AI companies gobble up Reddit's data to fuel their own chatbots, the popular online forum site has begun testing a new conversational AI feature of its own. The feature, called Reddit Answers, allows visitors to ask questions and receive curated summaries of relevant responses and threads across the platform, the company announced on Monday. The feature allows Reddit to better compete against AI providers like OpenAI's ChatGPT and Perplexity, which have become popular destinations for users looking to get quick and concise answers to questions. And it could help Reddit challenge Google more directly, where so many users add the keyword "reddit" to their search queries that Google ended up integrating that functionality into its search engine. Reddit Answers introduces a conversational experience on its platform designed to help people find exactly what they're looking for directly on Reddit without having to peruse through different individual threads and communities. Once you ask a question through Reddit Answers, you will receive concise and conversational answers that pull information from communities and posts that are related to your inquiry. You can read relevant snippets and answers inline from real users on the platform, open up full conversations, and deepen your search using either your own or suggested follow-up questions. For example, if you ask: "What are some tips for better sleep," the feature will give you a curated summary of information provided by other Reddit users in a concise and bulleted format that's similar to responses provided by AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity. If you scroll down, the tool will reference all of the different threads that it pulled information from to allow you to go in and explore those conversations on your own. In a blog post, Reddit says the new feature gives users a new way to get "the information, recommendations, discussions, and hot takes" they are looking for from "real conversations and communities across all of Reddit." Since companies like Google and OpenAI already surface information from Reddit users' posts in their AI features thanks to partnerships with the platform, it makes sense for Reddit to have an in-house conversational tool to help users find quick answers. "People know that Reddit has answers, advice, and perspectives on just about whatever they're looking for, and AI-powered search is part of our longer-term vision to improve the search experience on Reddit - making it faster, smarter, and more relevant," the company said in the blog post. Reddit Answers is rolling out to a limited number of users in the U.S. and is currently only accessible in English. The company plans to bring the feature to more countries in the future and add support for additional languages. Reddit told TechCrunch in an email that the feature is powered by Reddit-built tech, noting that the platform has its own AI models, but also integrates models from OpenAI and Google Cloud. An AI conversational tool isn't the only way Reddit is integrating AI on its platform. Reddit co-founder and CEO Steve Huffman teased the launch of AI-powered search result pages earlier this year. It's also using AI to power translation and offer AI-powered insights for brands.

Reddit debuts AI-powered discussion search -- but will users like it?

On Monday, Reddit announced it would test an AI-powered search feature called "Reddit Answers" that uses an AI model to create summaries from existing Reddit posts to respond to user questions, reports Reuters. The feature generates responses by searching through Reddit's vast collection of community discussions and comments. When users ask questions, Reddit Answers provides summaries of relevant conversations and includes links to related communities and posts. The move potentially puts Reddit in competition with traditional search engines like Google and newer AI search tools like those from OpenAI and Perplexity. But while other companies pull information from across the Internet, Reddit Answers focuses only on content within Reddit's platform. Reddit Answers is currently in early access. Reddit will limit the initial Reddit Answers rollout to English-speaking users in the US before expanding to other languages and regions. Reddit's history with generative AI has been full of twists and turns thus far. In April 2023, Reddit CEO Steve Huffman announced the company would begin charging large companies to access its API for AI training purposes, noting that the platform's 18 years of human-generated content held substantial value.

Reddit Answers is Reddit's answer to Google AI Overviews

The feature is only currently available to a limited number of US users. It was only a matter of time before Reddit introduced an AI element. Predictable as it might have been, the new feature being launched by the platform today looks to take on Google at its own game. Reddit Answers is an AI-powered conversational interface that will take a plain-language question from the user and return a summary of the most relevant information from the forums. The test version of Reddit Answers was announced in a blog post on Monday morning. In the same manner as Google's AI Overviews, Reddit Answers goes beyond a list of search results and provides a zero-click response based on references to the topic in the thousands of Reddit communities. The result includes links to the posts and comments used to formulate the summary so users can easily delve deeper into how the answer was formulated if they so choose. This makes is another way to go down Reddit rabbit holes and find new communities that are interested in the same conversions. Reddit struck a deal with OpenAI back in May of this year, allowing the ChatGPT owner to train off Reddit's extensive Data API. One of the things that Reddit got in return was the option to use OpenAI's models to develop its own tools. It's possible that this has been a catalyst for the introduction of Reddit Answers, but this is speculation on our part. As Reddit Answers is still in the test stage, it is currently available only to a limited number of US users and in English. This seems prudent, given the bumpy launch of Google's comparable Google AI Overview feature. If all goes well, Reddit plans to expand the tool to more regions and languages over time. If you're interested in being kept informed on developments and when Reddit Answers might be available where you are, you can request updates here.

Reddit begins testing AI-powered answers feature to win more users

Steve Huffman, co-founder and CEO of Reddit, speaks during WSJ Tech Live conference hosted by the Wall Street Journal at the Montage Laguna Beach in Laguna Beach, California, on October 21, 2024. Reddit is rolling out a new artificial intelligence feature designed to help people quickly find answers based on user posts, the company said Monday. A small portion of Reddit's U.S. user base will have access to the Reddit Answers feature as part of an initial test before the company rolls the feature out more broadly. Reddit Answers is available via a new button on the company's homepage. That button takes users to a page where they can ask the AI questions, just as they can with ChatGPT, Perplexity and other generative AI services. Unlike other AI-powered chat and search tools, Reddit's AI-generated answers are sourced from posts found on the platform, not from around the web. For instance, if a user asks Reddit Answers how to make modifications to a particular BMW model, the AI tool will answer with a bullet-point list of tips, summaries and quotes from Reddit posts related to the question. Users can tap links in the answers and go directly to the related Reddit post. The company has been testing Reddit Answers for six months, and the feature is part of Reddit's plans to improve the way people search on the platform, Reddit Vice President of Product Serkan Piantino told CNBC. Reddit Answers is more "about building a bridge to the content than it is about being a replacement for it," said Piantino. He said the company wants people to use the feature to access more Reddit content as opposed to merely reading AI-generated summaries. People will be able to use Reddit Answers to query any topic except those deemed NSFW, or not safe for work, Piantino said. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman told analysts in October that search represents a "focused investment" for the company in 2025 due to its utility and how it "helps new users find their home on Reddit." "It helps core users navigate Reddit, answer their questions, and it's a monetization opportunity," Huffman said on the company's third-quarter earnings call. "It's one of the few products that kind of touches everything." Reddit Answers is built atop the company's existing search architecture and with AI models from OpenAI and Google Cloud, Piantino said. The social media company has data-licensing deals with both OpenAI and Google in which the companies pay Reddit for access to its data that they can use to improve their respective AI models. Over the past year, Reddit has become one of the most visited sites through Google, after the company made internal changes and after Google updated its algorithms to prioritize "authentic" content from online forums. As a result, Reddit said, it has seen an influx of new users who aren't logged into accounts on the platform. Although Reddit's overall user base has grown along with its improved Google search results, the number of logged-out users has exceeded that of logged-in users since the fourth quarter of 2023, according to Reddit financials. Reddit isn't able to monetize logged-out users as much as their logged-in counterparts, which has led to the company releasing more personalized features intended to incentivize logged-out users to create accounts. "Reddit is the sixth most searched word on Google in the US this year, and so, those are people literally typing the word Reddit into Google," Huffman said in October. "They know they're going to end up on there. They're using, in this case, Google to navigate Reddit." With Reddit Answers, the company may be able to get more users to search for Reddit content on the platform, reducing the company's reliance on Google for traffic. If new users find the feature compelling, they could be enticed to create accounts. "It's pretty clear that AI has a place in search, and that's how we're thinking about this as well," Piantino said. Reddit Answers is only available in English for iOS and desktop users for now, but the company plans to roll out the feature to Android users as well as in other languages in the future, Piantino said.

Reddit introduces AI-powered 'Reddit Answers' search feature

Earlier this year Reddit on AI companies and some major search engines, saying that companies would not be allowed to scrape its site unless they struck licensing deals with the company. Now, the "front page of the internet" is introducing its own AI-powered search feature. Called "Reddit Answers," the feature provides summaries of conversations and posts from across the site in a "conversational interface." Relying on content from all public, SFW subreddits, the goal is for Reddit to be able to directly provide relevant results for queries that people may otherwise find via Google searches, where it's become increasingly common to append "Reddit" to queries. While that sounds a lot like a Reddit-based search engine, VP of product Serkan Piantino says that Reddit Answers isn't necessarily trying to come up with a singular answer the way you might expect with a Google search. Instead, the tools surfaced a handful of bullet points pulled directly from relevant threads on Reddit. Those conversations are linked directly in the interface, as are relevant subreddits where users can dive deeper into similar topics. "A big theme is that it does sort of guide you towards the content itself, instead of trying to represent an answer on its own," Piantino tells Engadget. Reddit gave me early access to the feature and the current version looks a bit like Meta's AI search suggestions in Instagram, with a few dozen suggested queries and accompanying emoji. The responses, however, are detailed and link directly to highly-upvoted comments from various subreddits where Redditors have previously weighed in on similar topics. That's helpful because some of the results may not make sense without the broader context from the thread (like in the answer screenshotted adobe that references an image of Price Harry). I also noticed that many of Reddit's built-in suggestions centered around product questions, like "best robot vacuum" or "best vitamin C serum." While that's not necessarily surprising -- many people already turn to Reddit forums for buying advice -- it also raises questions about whether the company could potentially monetize the new search feature. "It's something that we've thought about at a high level, but we have no immediate plans for monetization," Piantino said when I asked him about it. For now, he said, the feature is still in beta and will be rolling out slowly. As of today, Reddit Answers is making its way to a "limited number" of users in the US on web and iOS, with a broader rollout expected sometime next year.

'Faster, Smarter, and More Relevant': Reddit Tests AI That Combs the Site For You

Only a small group of Redditors in the U.S. currently have access to Answers. Reddit has a new feature in the works that could make it both a ChatGPT and Google competitor. Reddit announced on Monday that it has started to test a new AI chatbot called Reddit Answers. The bot provides conversational responses to user queries like "How can I get better sleep?" and "Is a hot dog a sandwich?" by drawing from what Redditors have written across the platform. Reddit Answers summarizes what Redditors have said at the top of its response and links to the communities and posts across Reddit that it used to formulate the response at the bottom. Users have the option to dive deeper by clicking through the links or by asking a follow-up question. Reddit advertises Answers as a way to "Find answers from real people." Related: Here's Why Reddit Turned Down an Acquisition Offer From Google in Its Early Days, According to Cofounder Alexis Ohanian "AI-powered search is part of our longer-term vision to improve the search experience on Reddit - making it faster, smarter, and more relevant," Reddit stated in a blog post. The move puts Reddit in competition with search engines like Google and AI chatbots like ChatGPT. Instead of asking a question on Google and adding "Reddit" at the end of the search query to find an answer from Reddit, users can go straight to Reddit to ask the question. The conversational format of the answer is also similar to ChatGPT, making Reddit Answers a combination of an AI chatbot and a Reddit search. Related: Can ChatGPT Help Start a Business? I Tried the Latest Version, GPT-4o, to Find Out. Google and OpenAI have already signed deals to use Reddit data in their AI responses. Google currently has about 90% of the search engine market, according to Stat Counter. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman revealed last week that ChatGPT has over 300 million weekly users and handles more than one billion messages per day. Reddit Answers is currently only available in early access to a limited group of Redditors in the U.S., with plans to roll it out to additional countries.

Reddit Is Testing Its Own Version of an AI Chatbot

Reddit has launched a new AI-based search feature that finds responses to user queries from conversations and communities within the platform. Called Reddit Answers, the feature offers an interface similar to the ones seen on other AI chatbots. Responses show up as short summaries with links to the source. Users can tap on the snippets to enter the full thread or continue their search and ask more follow-up questions. "People know that Reddit has answers, advice, and perspectives on almost anything they're looking for, and AI-powered search is part of our longer-term vision to improve the search experience on Reddit - making it faster, smarter, and more relevant," Reddit says. Reddit Answers could be useful for those who are used to adding "Reddit" to their search queries on Google, TechCrunch notes. Instead of finding vague responses in the meta description of search results, Reddit Answers could provide quicker and more concise answers. (In February, Reddit licensed its content to Google in a $60 million deal.) Reddit Answers also hold the potential to pick up on things happening in real-time, Reddit tells The Verge, though early tests produced mixed results. As it is, hallucinations in AI overviews aren't a new thing. At launch, the feature is accessible to a limited number of US users on the web and iOS in English. Support for Android and other languages and regions will roll out in the future.

This Reddit AI Feature Will Let You Ask for Post Summaries on Any Topic

The AI feature currently only supports the English language Reddit is testing an artificial intelligence (AI) feature that will make it easier for users to search for topics and find information. On Monday, the discussion forum-styled social media platform introduced the new feature, dubbed Reddit Answers. The AI feature is a conversational chatbot with which users can interact by asking text-based queries. The AI will generate a curated response by summarising relevant posts on the platform. Reddit Answers is currently rolling out to a small subset of users in the US, and the company has stated that it will be expanded to more regions in the future. In a post on its Upvoted blog, the social media platform detailed the new AI feature. With this, the company aims to offer a new way to get information, recommendations, discussions, and opinions on the platform on a wide range of topics. The tool also has a use case as a search tool and can find relevant posts for users. Reddit Answers is a conversational chatbot, where users can ask questions and find answers. This means users can ask about "How to build a DIY wooden table" and the AI will look across the platform to find relevant posts about the topic. After sourcing multiple posts that directly answer the question, the tool will summarise the content and merge them to provide a detailed response. The social media platform says that these responses will also include links to related communities and posts. These posts will be placed at the bottom of a response in boxed layouts where the user can see the total upvotes and the number of comments to gauge which post they would like to read further. Users can also ask follow-up questions to dive deeper into the topic or to fine-tune the sourced content by date, region, or even subreddits. Reddit Answers will also suggest follow-up questions in case the user is uncertain. "People know that Reddit has answers, advice, and perspectives on almost anything they're looking for, and AI-powered search is part of our longer-term vision to improve the search experience on Reddit," the company stated in the blog post.

Reddit's New AI Search Tool Could Take Google Out of the Equation

Reddit is testing a new AI-powered search tool designed to make it the primary destination you'll need when searching for information. And not only could this new tool, called Reddit Answers, be transformative for the site, it could have adverse effects on Google Search and the sites whose articles are listed on it. ✕ Remove Ads Reddit Answers the Need to Bring Search In-House The way that we all source information online is changing. Partly thanks to the sheer volume of information (and misinformation) shared on social media, and partly thanks to the ability of AI to gather that information and spit it out in an easy-to-read format. Reddit Answers is Reddit's answer to that ongoing evolution. As announced in a post on Upvoted, Reddit Answers is "a new, AI-powered conversational interface" which Reddit users can use to find information quickly and easily. In the same way that you would with existing AI chatbots such as ChatGPT and Perplexity, you simply type your question in and wait for a response. However, unlike other AI chatbots, Reddit Answers will provide an answer based purely on Reddit posts. ✕ Remove Ads First, Reddit's AI will provide a summary of the information it has gathered from across Reddit. If that answers your question, then you can stop there. However, scroll down, and you'll see a list of the Reddit threads sourced to generate the summary. Click on any, and you can read the full thread instead. Initially, Reddit Answers is only being made available to a limited number of users in the US (on the web and iOS app). However, this is clearly the start of a huge rollout that should, all being well, end up with Reddit Answers being available to everyone, regardless of language or location. Reddit Answers Could Be Transformative for the Site Reddit Answers could be transformative for Reddit, turning it from a (albeit beloved) social media site to somewhere mainstream internet users go for information. This also had to happen eventually, as Reddit has been cracking down on search engines and LLMs from crawling the site for new content. Google is the only major search engine able to surface new Reddit content, and Reddit Answers could remove the need for people to go through Google as well. ✕ Remove Ads Reddit has always been a solid source of information, but it has never been the most user-friendly site for those not used to Reddit's quirky UI (and other issues). Reddit Answers could move Reddit very much into the mainstream (with some help from artificial intelligence).

Reddit’s AI-Powered Search Could Replace a Major Use for Google

Reddit’s plan to bring more “human perspectives to everyone†is to use AI to round up all the most-upvoted posts. Reddit is already the one quick place Google Search and its Search AI shoves in front of users for all their inane questions. Now, Reddit is doing away with the middle man and plans to turn all your posts into a question-and-answer bulletin with AI summaries. Can you trust everything people say on Reddit? Now, it's time to put that to the test. The social news site’s short blog post describes how its new Reddit Answers system will work. You put a text prompt into a search box, and the AIt will return "curated" summarized answers based on Reddit posts and conversations. The tool then links the relevant conversations at the bottom of the page for you to click on. Reddit said this would “empower communities and provide human perspectives to everyone,†though only after it’s thrown through the information sieve that is AI. It’s essentially the same thing as what Google and Bing do for their own AI-enabled search. However, Reddit is drawing only on its posts for content. Considering the iffy quality of information you might find on various forums, that seems like a recipe for strange and likely wrong results. Reddit doesn’t normally identify the quality of the post or poster in terms of accuracy or writing quality. All that matters is a post's upvotes and the users’ standing in any one subreddit. In an email with Gizmodo, a spokesperson for Reddit confirmed Reddit Answers will look first to answers found at the top of search results and comments from posts. For that, upvotes are “one of the key mechanisms.†Otherwise, the AI is supposed to surface “balanced answers†that will share “multiple viewpoints†depending on the question. For example, Reddit provided a GIF with the question, “What are some tips for better sleep.†The AI-generated answer included the usual advice for creating a bedtime routine and reducing screen time before bed. It is also recommended to take known sleep-aiding supplements like tart cherry juice. Reddit Answers may not produce as helpful answers for more controversial topics. Currently, Google’s own AI-enabled search doesn’t provide AI overviews for many political questions. Instead, it relies upon the usual search ranking algorithms. These supposedly consider the accuracy of the information (though results have gotten worse over time). Reddit, on the other hand, relies heavily on engagement as a key metric. The tool is only available to a limited number of Reddit users in the U.S., but the site said it was expanding to more languages and locations over time. You can compare this tool to Google Search or look at The Washington Post’s new “Ask the Post AI.†It’s supposed to take all the Post’s past reporting and spit out AI answers based on your queries. After generating an answer for a few seconds, the Post’s AI will respond to questions about Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, forcing his paper to abandon plans for a 2024 presidential endorsement and resulting in a hoard of subscribers abandoning ship. The Post’s AI speaks in a dry, journalistic style. If you ask it about the ongoing genocide against Palestinians, it will relay Amnesty International’s recent report about Israel’s acts in Gaza as well as the Israeli government’s response. It also provides the context that “the conflict has resulted in the deaths of over 44,000 Palestinians and the displacement of 90% of the population.†Like too much journalistic writing, the passive voice isn’t helping express the cause and effect of Israel’s ground war against a civilian population. Though it's nominally a forum, Reddit now has to manage information on its platform, especially as its AI collects and regurgitates it for easy consumption.

AI-powered Reddit search now available to select users

Many users unhappy with current state of search, want to know why this got priority Reddit's internal search engine is often criticized as one of the site's weakest features but the platform claims AI integration will make it "faster, smarter, and more relevant." Reddit Answers, which the site announced has begun rolling out to a limited number of users in the US today, allows redditors to "ask questions and receive answers using a new, AI-powered conversational interface" that returns "curated summaries of relevant conversations and details across Reddit ... including links to related communities and posts," the social media giant said in a blog post. Reddit didn't include much information about what it'll look like, with the blog post featuring only a single animated GIF of an example search for "tips for better sleep." If you use Google, you know perfectly well what this looks like: Google search results now surface bullet-pointed, AI-generated answers to many questions users ask, and the GIF included in Reddit's blog post suggests it operates in a similar way. However, in Reddit's case, the AI-powered results won't cull data from around the internet; instead, it will rely on posts and comments from the site to provide answers. Just like the ChatGPT does. Only a few users have been invited to the Answers beta, with Reddit promising an invitation to this vulture that has yet to materialize. If you're lucky enough to have access, you'll find the feature at reddit.com/answers, or on the Reddit homepage along with buttons for Home, Popular posts, Explore, and the like. The Answers feature is also available in the latest version of the Reddit app for iOS, where those with access will find it along the bottom of the home screen with buttons for Home, Communities, Chat and other features. No word on an Android release was provided. It's also not clear when it will be made more widely available, with a Reddit spokesperson only telling us the biz has plans to expand Answers to additional languages in the coming months. Reddit has been vocal about its plans to integrate AI into the site. In February, it announced a partnership with Google to provide post and comment data to the Chocolate Factory for its AI models, followed by signing a deal with OpenAI in May to integrate Reddit content into ChatGPT, too. Reddit told us that Answers is "Reddit-built tech and not based on a partnership," and while the company integrates models from OpenAI and Google, Answers is a model of its very own. This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone who has been following Reddit since it went public in March: The social media giant finally turned a profit for the first time in its history in its third quarter of 2024, which ended in October, and AI has been credited with much of the reason for the boost. As we mentioned in our look at Reddit going all-in on AI, CEO Steve Huffman has had plenty to say about plans to integrate AI into Reddit's search engine, a site feature that has had no end of criticism from redditors. "[Search is] an important part of our strategy and will be a focused investment for us heading into 2025," Huffman said on the Q3 earnings call. "We'll start working [on] integrating LLMs into making our results more sophisticated ... you'll start to see this over the course of the next year," Huffman added. Redditors commenting on the news, however, don't seem as enthused as Huffman or investors about the prospect of AI Answers on Reddit. "So instead of finding a way to make Reddit search actually work and not be a flaming dumpster they turn to AI to try and fill in the blanks," one user opined in a thread discussing the Answers beta launch. Another poster noted that it was purely a move to please investors and VCs, while others predicted chaos as highly-upvoted sarcastic responses work their way into top results, à la suggestions to eat rocks or add glue to pizza cheese to help it stick. Reddit assured us that users don't need to worry about Answers ruining the site or subsuming the existing search function: It's not going away, so you're free to keep hating both. As for how well it works, we'll let you know if and when we get access. ®

Reddit rolls out its own AI-powered search tool after cracking down on AI companies

Reddit Answers will summarize conversations and posts on the site, letting users bypass traditional search engines. The tool was released on a limited basis Monday, with more users expected to gain access in the coming days and weeks. It's more than just a step in Reddit's evolution as a public company. The launch of Reddit Answers is also an escalation of the AI search wars, which could upend the way people find information online. Many of Reddit's users, which numbered in excess of 97 million per day in the third quarter, regularly add "reddit" to their Google searches in order to find things on the platform. This tool gives them the option to bypass Google entirely. Google, lately, has been the only place to get recent search results from Reddit, thanks to a reported $60 million deal.

Reddit rolls out AI search feature

Reddit has launched a new AI search feature for its site. The test rollout of Reddit Answers, launched Monday, will allow users to have their questions answered through a new conversational interface. Users inputting questions will get a response of relevant conversation summaries on the platform as well as answer snippets from other users. They can also ask follow-up questions. "People know that Reddit has answers, advice, and perspectives on almost anything they're looking for, and AI-powered search is part of our longer-term vision to improve the search experience on Reddit - making it faster, smarter, and more relevant," the site said in a blog post. The test rollout of the AI search feature will initially be only available in English to a limited number of U.S. users, with room for expansion. It's the latest social media platform to incorporate AI, with other platforms such as Meta and X also utilizing the emerging technology in their products.

Reddit Launches Test of AI-Powered Search Tool | PYMNTS.com

Reddit has launched a test of an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered conversational interface designed to answer questions by providing information and recommendations based on conversations and communities across its social media platform. When asked a question, the new Reddit Answers will provide curated summaries of relevant conversations and details, links to related communities and posts, and the ability to ask follow-up questions so that users can go deeper in their search, Reddit said in a Monday (Dec. 9) blog post. The company is rolling out Reddit Answers to a limited number of users in the United States, in English, according to the post. It plans to add more locations and languages in the future. "People know that Reddit has answers, advice and perspectives on almost anything they're looking for, and AI-powered search is part of our longer-term vision to improve the search experience on Reddit -- making it faster, smarter and more relevant," the post said. AI-powered search is changing how people search the web and shop online, making the experience more personalized and intuitive, PYMNTS reported in May. By leveraging natural language processing, machine learning and user data, AI search tools can deeply understand complex queries and deliver tailored results and recommendations. Reddit said in May that it formed a partnership with OpenAI that includes Reddit building on OpenAI's platform of AI models to bring new AI-powered features to Reddit users and moderators. OpenAI Chief Operating Officer Brad Lightcap said at the time: "We are thrilled to partner with Reddit to enhance ChatGPT with uniquely timely and relevant information, and to explore the possibilities to enrich the Reddit experience with AI-powered features." Reddit also expanded its collaboration with Google in February to include a new Cloud partnership that enables Reddit to use Vertex AI to integrate new AI-powered capabilities. "Reddit intends to use Vertex AI to enhance search and other capabilities on the Reddit platform," according to Google's Feb. 22 blog post. Reddit said in August that it also plans to incorporate AI-driven tools and models to enhance its ad offerings. "We are adding AI foundational models to our ad stack to help optimize creative," Reddit Chief Operating Officer Jen Wong said Aug. 6 during the company's quarterly earnings call.

Reddit is taking on Google and OpenAI with its own AI chatbot

Reddit is rolling out a test of an artificial intelligence-powered chatbot that can provide answers from Reddit conversations and posts. Reddit Answers will respond to users' questions with summaries of conversations from across the social media platform, and provide links to relevant communities and posts, the company said. The chatbot can also make recommendations and suggest follow-up questions. With the AI chatbot, Reddit users can skip using Google (GOOGL-0.03%) search or OpenAI's ChatGPT to find information and discussions on Reddit. The social media platform already has agreements with both companies for summaries of Reddit posts to come up in Google searches and ChatGPT responses. "It's clear searching stuff on Reddit is a major way people use the internet," Serkan Piantino, Reddit's vice president of product, told Bloomberg. "It's my job and our job to make sure if you want to search on Reddit in any format, that we're the best at doing that." In October, OpenAI launched ChatGPT search to challenge Google's search dominance. The feature provides links to relevant web sources in responses, "which you would have previously needed to go to a search engine for," OpenAI said. With web search on ChatGPT, users can ask questions "in a more natural, conversation way." The Reddit Answers chatbot is being powered by AI models from Reddit, OpenAI, and Google, the company told Bloomberg. Piantino told CNBC that Reddit has been testing the chatbot for six months, and that users can ask about any topic except those considered not safe for work, or NSFW. A limited number of users in the U.S. will have access to Reddit Answers starting Monday. The feature currently supports English, but the company plans to expand to more languages and locations in the future.

Keep it Human, Reddit!

Reddit, the pseudo-anonymous social platform, introduced a new AI tool, 'Reddit Answers', on Monday. It's a prompt-based search engine and chatbot that generates responses to user queries based on various threads and conversations on Reddit. The AI responds in a familiar fashion, like that of ChatGPT and Perplexity, along with links to the original source. "People know that Reddit has answers, advice, and perspectives on almost anything they're looking for, and AI-powered search is part of our longer-term vision to improve the search experience on Reddit - making it faster, smarter, and more relevant," said Reddit on its official blog. The feature is being rolled out to a limited number of users in the United States and is currently available only in English. Source: Reddit At the beginning of 2024, Reddit announced that it was planning to generate over $200 million from data licensing contracts in the next three years. It has also signed a $60 million deal with Google to license its AI content. Soon after, the Federal Trade Commission probed an inquiry regarding concerns about sharing users' posts and content with external organisations to train AI models. Defending the company's move, Steve Huffman, CEO of Reddit, said, "Our vast and unmatched archive of real, timely, and relevant human conversation on literally any topic is an invaluable dataset for a variety of purposes, including search, AI training, and research." "We expect our data advantage and intellectual property to continue to be a key element in the training of future LLMs," he added. In May, they also announced a partnership with OpenAI to bring 'enhanced Reddit content to ChatGPT and new products, helping users discover and engage with Reddit communities.' OpenAI is also said to access Reddit's API for real-time information, and they also announced an advertising partnership with Reddit. That said, Reddit has not revealed the model powering this new feature in the announcement. While Huffman and others are riding the AI wave, Reddit's biggest threat comes from its 500 million users on the platform. While Reddit's IPO grabbed headlines early this year, the company has been dabbling with AI for the last few months. Reddit Answers is their first tangible offering to the users in a long time. Today, several users are questioning the very need for such a feature on the platform. While unfiltered authentic content on Reddit attracted users, there's a lingering fear that AI might meddle with it and ruin the user experience. Also, with the platform increasing the cost of its API, several third-party apps have gone to the grave. "I'm searching Reddit for human answers and human experiences, not AI," one Reddit user posted on the platform. Since its inception, Reddit has remained a platform for reading unfiltered and authentic content. More recently, it has been helping netizens seek refuge from AI-generated content from publishers on the web. Users are pseudo-anonymous and often don't shy away from being honest. This is also one of the reasons why most people attach 'Reddit' next to their search queries on Google Search. The tech giant has acknowledged this and has been providing more forum discussions as part of its search results. Will the AI model be able to read between the lines? Reddit, along with other online forums, is a part of the necessary human touch on the internet. There is no denying that AI tools work wonders to gain knowledge, but you'd also want something dedicated to just humans interacting with each other. For now, Reddit's AI feature will not mess up with a traditional experience. At the same time, it shouldn't set any precedent for bringing AI that hampers what is called the 'Front page of the Internet'. "The platform that was once the darling of the internet's tastemakers is facing an existential crisis," said an independent writer who goes by the name JA Westenberg. "It's a feeling that should be familiar to anyone who's watched their favourite punk band sell out and start playing elevator music." Users on Reddit aren't the ones who bow down to Huffman. Moderators on the platform do a thankless job of helping the platform remain sane. Last year, Reddit exponentially increased the cost of its API, which led to the death of several third-party apps. These apps provided both moderators and users with features that enhanced the user experience, which otherwise wasn't a part of the first-party app. Several subreddits were shut as a mark of a protest, and users went all out on Huffman. He wouldn't like a repeat of that.

Reddit rolls out AI chatbot to enhance search on platform By Investing.com

Reddit (NYSE:RDDT) Inc. introduced a new AI-powered chatbot feature named Reddit Answers, aiming to improve the search experience for its users. The social media company is working to keep users engaged by simplifying access to over 1 billion posts and discussions on its platform. Reddit Answers will assist users in finding information, making recommendations, and surfacing relevant forum discussions. The initiative is part of Reddit's broader investment in enhancing its search capabilities to compete with traditional search engines and AI companies that summarize web content. Previously, users often turned to third-party search engines like Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL), adding "Reddit" to their queries to find posts on the site. In fact, "Reddit" ranked as the sixth-most searched word on Google in the US this year. To counter external AI tools summarizing its content without directing traffic back to Reddit, the company has started to block certain search engines from accessing its forums unless they enter commercial agreements. Reddit has already established licensing deals with Google and OpenAI, allowing summaries of its posts to appear in search results and ChatGPT, with agreements worth $203 million over the next two to three years. The new chatbot, powered by AI models from Reddit, OpenAI, and Google, is part of a growing trend among social networks to include chatbots to maintain user engagement. For example, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META). integrated a Meta AI chatbot across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, boasting 600 million monthly users. Other companies like Elon Musk's X with its Grok chatbot and Snapchat have also adopted similar AI features. Reddit Answers is initially rolling out to a select group of users in the US on the web and iOS platforms. The company plans to expand the chatbot's availability to more languages and locations in the future. This conversational tool is designed to provide users with quick, curated summaries of related content, offering a more direct and efficient way to navigate the vast array of discussions on Reddit.

Why You Might Not Need to Add 'Reddit' to Your Google Searches Anymore

Reddit has long been a popular destination for interesting articles, funny memes, and insightful, polite debate with people who have the same opinions as you. The site is so popular, in fact, many of us simply add "Reddit" to the end of our Google searches, conditioned to believe that we have a better chance of finding an answer on the site versus the rest of the internet. That doesn't really work if you use another major search engine like Bing: As it happens, Reddit limited the search engines you could find Reddit results from largely to Google. But since Google is by and far the most popular search engine on the internet, many of us have success with these "Reddit" addendums. Reddit is well aware of this trend, and doesn't want you to do it anymore -- at least, the company doesn't want you bothering with a search engine like Google in the first place. The company is rolling out a new search tool called Reddit Answers, which uses AI (it is 2024, after all) to deliver detailed results to user queries. It isn't a simple search feature though, meaning you don't type your query, hit return, then sift through a sea of subreddit posts to find what you're looking for. Instead, when you search something, Reddit Answers generates a full summary to answer your question, complete with headings and bullet points -- all based on Reddit content, of course. Each point comes with a hyperlink to the Reddit post the answer is pulling from. When you click the link, it opens up the post in a sidebar, so you don't have to leave the summary to fact check it. Reddit first disclosed it was working on an AI summary feature of its own back in August, so this isn't too surprisingly. The feature itself is quite reminiscent of other AI summarizers, including Google's own AI Overviews, which scrapes the internet to generate a summarized answer to your query. (Those in the know are aware of how rocky that initial rollout was.)