Recently, Reddit announced the launch of its new feature "Reddit Answers," which is currently being tested among a limited number of users in the United States. Reddit hopes to enhance the speed, intelligence, and relevance of its platform's search capabilities through this AI-driven Q&A feature. However, many users have expressed dissatisfaction with this update, believing that the search function still has many issues.
"Reddit Answers" allows users to ask questions and receive answers through a new AI chat interface. This feature will provide answers based on posts and comments from the Reddit site, rather than from other sources on the internet. Reddit mentioned in its blog that this new feature can return summaries of relevant discussions along with links to related communities and posts. While users are excited about this feature, only a few have been granted access to the testing phase, and many are still waiting for invitations.
If users are fortunate enough to gain access, they can visit reddit.com/answers to use the feature or find it among other buttons on the Reddit homepage. For iOS users, the latest version of the Reddit app also includes this feature, which can be found in the buttons at the bottom of the homepage. However, the release date for the Android version has not yet been announced.
Reddit's plans for AI integration were mentioned earlier this year. In February, Reddit partnered with Google to provide its AI models with post and comment data, and in May, it signed an agreement with OpenAI to integrate Reddit content into ChatGPT. Although Reddit claims that "Answers" is a technology developed in-house, it is still utilizing models from OpenAI and Google.
It is worth noting that Reddit achieved profitability for the first time in the third quarter of 2024, with AI considered one of the main factors driving this growth. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman stated during the third-quarter earnings call that the search function is a key focus for future development, with plans to enhance it further before 2025.
However, user feedback on "Reddit Answers" has not been positive. Some users have commented that rather than using AI to fill gaps in search, it would be better to directly improve Reddit's search functionality. Some users believe this feature is a strategy to appease investors and predict that it may lead to some irresponsible answers appearing in search results.
Reddit users have assured that Answers will not replace the existing search function, and users can continue to use the current search features.
Key Points:
🔍 The new feature "Reddit Answers" is starting to be tested among a limited number of users in the U.S., aiming to enhance the search experience.
🤖 This feature utilizes posts and comments within the Reddit platform to provide AI-driven Q&A services.
😟 User feedback has been lukewarm, with many expressing dissatisfaction over the prioritization of improving the search function.
