Reddit has a new feature in the works that could make it a competitor to ChatGPT and Google.
Reddit DESIGNATED on Monday that it has begun testing a new AI chatbot called Reddit Answers. The bot provides conversational answers to user questions like “How can I get better sleep?” and “Is a hot dog a sandwich?” drawing from what Redditors have written across the platform.
Reddit Answers summarizes what Redditors have said at the top of her answer and links to the Reddit communities and posts she used to formulate the answer at the bottom. Users have the option to dive deeper by clicking through links or asking a follow-up question.
Example of a Reddit Answers answer. Credit: Reddit
Recent example of a Reddit Answers answer. Credit: Reddit
Reddit advertises Answers as a way to “Find answers from real people”.
“AI-powered search is part of our long-term vision to improve the search experience on Reddit — making it faster, smarter, and more relevant,” Reddit said in a statement. 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” to the end of the search question to find an answer from Reddit, users can go directly to Reddit to ask the question.
The conversational answer format 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 users per week and handles more than a billion messages per day.
Reddit Answers is currently only available in early access to a limited group of Redditors in the US, with plans to roll it out to other countries.