Reddit’s new AI-powered tools scan your posts to serve you better ads

Reddit has announced more AI-powered tools to help advertisers. But do users care for it?

Jun 17, 2025 - 12:50

Reddit’s new AI-powered tools scan your posts to serve you better ads

Reddit has introduced two Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools which will use Reddit comments, posts, and conversations to help sellers make the most of the community.

Reddit is a social media platform and online forum where users can share and discuss content across a wide range of topics. The platform’s structure divides it into communities known as “subreddits,” each focused on a specific subject or interest (from cars to movies to sports to knitting).

There are also promoted posts, which look like regular Reddit posts but are marked as sponsored. They can include text, images, videos, or carousels and often appear in users’ feeds or within specific subreddits. Due to its size, Reddit has evolved into a major digital platform for both advertising and AI-powered data analysis.

Reddit introduced its “Reddit Community Intelligence” at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2025. It described this new addition as the collective knowledge of billions of conversations to help businesses and organizations make “smarter marketing decisions.”

Last year, Reddit launched AI-powered advertising such as an ads inspiration library, AI copywriter, and image auto-cropper to help small businesses create more effective, platform-specific ads.

The new tools, dubbed “Reddit Insights” and “Conversation Summary Add-ons” use AI to analyze conversations, summarize sentiment, and surface relevant user-generated content for advertisers.

Last year, the FTC advised Reddit that it would conduct a non-public inquiry focused on Reddit’s sale, licensing, or sharing of user-generated content with third parties to train AI models. This was before Reddit announced a partnership with OpenAI to bring Reddit content to ChatGPT.

When the FTC launched a Request for Information (RFI) to better understand how technology platforms deny or degrade users’ access to services based on the content of their speech or affiliations, and how this conduct may have violated the law, without specifically mentioning Reddit, the company saw a 9% drop in stock price.

The new tools will undoubtedly fuel the ongoing debates about the ethics of AI-driven analysis on Reddit, especially regarding user consent and the potential for privacy breaches.

In April, users of the r/ChangeMyView subreddit expressed outrage at the revelation that researchers at the University of Zurich were secretly using the site for an AI-powered experiment in persuasion, prompting the moderation team to explain that the experiment was conducted without authorization.

Careful what you share

Given the open nature of Reddit it’s important to keep in mind that anything you post can be found by anyone and everything, including AI. So, it’s important to hold yourself to the same standards you may use when posting on social media.

On June 28, 2025 a new Privacy Policy will go into effect. It stands to reason that you should be aware of the current policy and keep up with any changes.

A few general rules to help improve your privacy on the platform:

Anonymity: there is no reason to use your real name or any identifying information in your username or profile. Don’t share personal details like your location, workplace, or other identifiers in posts or comments unless they are relevant to the post.
Don’t link to other social media profiles in your profile or posts. Also don’t link your account to your Google or Apple account.
If you’re active in several Reddit communities, consider creating separate accounts for different interests or sensitive topics.
In your Reddit account settings, under Privacy you can turn off “Show up in search results” to prevent your posts and comments from being indexed by search engines or easily browsed by others.
You can also disable “Personalize ads on Reddit based on information and activity from our partners.”
Protect your account using a unique, complex password and enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for your Reddit account.
Regularly check your account activity for unauthorized access and report anything suspicious.

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