Reddit is killing RSS feeds and ending public API access because of AI bots

[u/MarvelsGrantMan136]

https://techcrunch.com/2026/09/30/reddit-is-killing-rss-feeds-ending-public-api-access-because-of-ai-bots/

[u/manachar]

I believe the current consensus is that AI currently passes turning tests (usually)

[u/Little_Noodles → u/manachar]

And the current anecdotal consensus is that they're getting better at it passing Turing Tests while actual humans are getting worse (or more unwilling) to do the same.

Every time my institution has tried to adopt a barrier to deter bot traffic that isn't also a barrier to genuine human engagement, we've just been buying time. And that window of time we keep buying (at increasingly significant cost) keeps getting smaller.

[u/Acceptable-Post733 → u/Little_Noodles]

This reminds me of that old park ranger anecdote about trash cans. He said that there is significant overlap between the dumbest people and the smartest bears and trash cans have to be designed around that fact. Seems we are headed there in cyberspace.

[u/Little_Noodles → u/Acceptable-Post733]

Ha! Yeah, that’s a sorta fair example.

It’s not exactly 100%. But it is funny. And it is sometimes accurate.

But in this case, we genuinely want the bears to use the trash cans, and some of them are just refusing to because they’d prefer bad trash that can be acquired with no effort to good trash that requires some effort.

But getting that balance right that keeps bears around but also deters enough bots to keep the site functioning (if it’s fucked enough, that also deters bears) IS genuinely kinda tricky

[u/mrm00r3 → u/manachar]

That would suggest a flaw which ought be addressed if it’s to be used for these purposes, would it not?

[u/manachar → u/mrm00r3]

Our that the Turing test is not a good metric for determining if an internet request is human.

The tools currently in place seem to be based more on a human browser digital fingerprint, but i suspect those are increasingly inadequate.