The internet has become an even more fertile ground for spam, as powerful large language models (LLMs) are now easily accessible to bad actors. If you've spent just ten minutes online in recent years, you've likely noticed that spam and bot activity have grown significantly worse than before.

Reddit claims it has developed tools using LLMs to combat this surge in spam—much of which was originally created using the very same technology. It’s a somewhat ironic situation, but in the age of AI, platforms have little choice but to fight fire with fire. According to Reddit, the platform blocks 23 million spam views every day and catches around 25,000 new spam posts and comments daily.

While social platforms have long used automated tools to reduce spam, Reddit says these updated systems are now catching spam at a higher rate. “We leverage LLMs to catch the highly subtle, coordinated patterns of fake behavior and artificial hype that older systems once missed,” the company explained in a blog post. Reddit also reports that it reduced users’ exposure to spam by 20% between January and March, compared to the previous three months.

Other major platforms are taking different approaches. YouTube, Meta, and Instagram allow AI-generated content as long as users disclose it, while TikTok is even letting users choose how much AI-generated content they want to see. If platforms can detect AI-generated content more quickly, they may also be able to flag harmful material like hate speech faster. However, experts in platform moderation continue to stress that AI tools must be paired with human oversight to achieve the most effective results.