With users navigating to Reddit’s platform in search of human interaction in an increasingly AI-generated world, we wanted to study Reddit content to see whether or not it has been impacted by the same increase in AI content as other websites and discussion forums.
In this study, we looked closely at Reddit posts, identifying how many are likely AI-generated and the impact that could have on Reddit users.
Objectives of the Study
- We recently looked into the rise in AI-generated responses on Quora and wanted to compare that rise to another popular discussion forum, Reddit.
- Reddit is known for its user interactions and direct human communication, so we felt it was necessary to analyze whether that human-to-human relationship was still present.
- In our updated 2025 research, we monitored Reddit posts from 2024 to 2025 to see how many were likely AI-generated and the impact that may have on Reddit users.
This study builds on our previous research into specific subreddits such as popular writing subreddits, and SEO and marketing subreddits, which we then further discussed in: Are You Getting Advice from a Human or Bot?
In contrast to the above-noted previous research, which analyzed specific subreddits, this study took a broader approach with an overall analysis of the change in Likely AI content on Reddit. The complete methodology of this study is available at the end of this article.
Key Takeaways (TL;DR)
- In 2025, 15% of Reddit Posts are Likely AI-generated (rounded from 14.7%)
- Previously, in 2024, Likely AI Reddit Posts had reached 13%
- From 2024 to 2025, that represents a 13.08% increase overall
15% of Reddit Posts Were Likely AI in 2025
In our research, we uncovered that 15% of Reddit posts were likely AI-generated in 2025 (rounded from 14.7%).
It is important to note that does mean that 85% of the posts were human-written, which is a majority. However, the rise of Likely AI-generated posts should be a concern for Reddit moderators, as well as the users of the platform.
The increase (13.08% from 2024 to 2025) is likely due to raised awareness and access to AI tools as products like ChatGPT become more mainstream.
If Reddit leaves the percentage of posts that are likely AI-generated to continue rising, it could cause significant issues, as users of the site could become less trusting, and the unique selling point of user interactions may get lost.
2024 vs. 2025: Likely AI Reddit Posts Increased by 13.08%
From our study data, it’s clear to see a notable rise in Likely AI content from 2024 to 2025 — when Likely AI content increased by 13.08% from 13% in 2024 to 14.7% in 2025.
This builds on the results of a previous analysis conducted as part of this study, which found an overall increase of 146.30% between 2021 to 2024.
Impact of AI Content on Reddit
As you might expect, a rise in AI content on Reddit could have significant impacts, not just for consumers but also for the website itself.
For consumers, Reddit is a place they visit to gain advice (and human authenticity) from other people, often asking for guidance from others who have experienced what they are experiencing or are an expert in that field.
So, if that were to be eroded by an increase in AI-generated posts, it could have a significant impact on the authenticity of the website and the trust that its users have for the answers, comments, and advice they are reading.
Not to mention that Google has also been seen to penalize websites that publish AI content if it doesn’t adhere to spam policies, which could also impact Reddit traffic negatively. (Read more in our study on Google AI Content Penalties).
Final Thoughts
The increase in Likely AI-generated posts on Reddit is not dissimilar to what we are seeing across Google with our study on AI content in Google Search Results.
However, it is a particularly potent issue for discussion forums like Reddit, which are popular due to human-to-human interactions. If those are replaced by AI-generated posts and responses, it could impact how many people rely on the website.
Therefore, it is imperative that Reddit moderators continue to monitor AI-generated content on the site, ensuring the integrity of the website remains and the integrity of the brand remains.
Another thing to consider is the impact that generative AI is having on the digital knowledge-sharing world. The effects of this will only become known further down the line, but given that AI can hallucinate, it could cause a number of problems.
Are you unsure if a review or post you’re reading is human-written or Likely AI-generated? Use the Originality.ai AI detector to find out.
Read more about the impact of AI on online platforms:
- Fake AI Airbnb Reviews Increased by 209% From 2020 to 2024
- From 2019 to 2024: AI-generated Google Reviews Increased by 279.2%
- Over ½ of Long Posts on LinkedIn are Likely AI
- Amount of AI Content in Google Search Results
Methodology
This study analyzed the prevalence of AI-generated content in Reddit posts using publicly available data, focusing on how frequently Likely AI-generated content appeared over time. The dataset included Reddit posts with metadata such as ID, URL, title, description, and timestamp.
Data was collected from a publicly accessible Reddit dataset and processed with a Python script using the Originality.ai API for AI content detection. The script provided two key outputs: an AI Likelihood Score and a binary AI Classification (1 for AI-generated, 0 for human-generated). Only posts with descriptions of at least 50 words were processed to ensure accurate detection.
The detection pipeline involved querying the API, automatically retrying on failures, and saving data every 500 posts. The results were stored in a CSV file containing both the AI classification and original metadata.
AI classification data was grouped by year, and the rate of AI-generated posts was calculated for each year. From 2021 to 2024, Likely AI-generated content increased by 146.30%, reflecting the growing use of AI tools like ChatGPT.
This methodology provides a framework for tracking AI-generated content trends and can be adapted for future studies on online content authenticity.
2025 Methodology: Addendum
The RapidAPI api “Reddit Scraper” was utilized to gather the 2025 data. A collection of 50 unrelated nouns was used to get posts of 50 words or more, of which each noun would get a maximum of 10 posts, to keep the topics diverse.
In total, after all scans were complete, we were left with 497 posts for 2025. The Turbo 3.0.1 Originality.ai model was used for AI scanning.
Of the 497 posts, 73 were flagged as Likely AI-generated, resulting in 14.7% Likely AI-generated content. With 2024 being 13%, that is an increase of 13.08% increase overall in just a single year.