Generative AI threatens to disrupt how we work, learn, communicate, and participate in online communities. We performed a qualitative interview study to understand how online communities on the social sharing site Reddit are challenged by AI-generated content (AIGC) and how they are adapting. We conducted fifteen in-depth, semi-structured interviews with subreddit moderators about their experiences moderating AIGC. Though our participants see both legitimate and illegitimate motivations for using AIGC, on the whole they view it as detrimental to their communities, with a level of concern that is dependent on the purpose and size of their subreddits. Moderators reported developing rules and using a variety of strategies that may help communities prevent or curb AIGC, but without foolproof detection tools, enforcement is challenging and relies on heuristics. Overall, for online communities, the threat of Generative AI is not speculative: the disruption has already begun.

翻译：生成式人工智能正威胁着颠覆我们的工作、学习、交流方式以及在线社区的参与模式。我们开展了一项质性访谈研究，旨在探究社交媒体平台Reddit上的在线社区如何受到AI生成内容（AIGC）的挑战及其适应方式。我们对15位子版块版主进行了深入、半结构化的一对一访谈，了解他们管理AIGC的实际经验。尽管受访者认同AIGC存在正当与非正当的使用动机，但整体上他们认为AIGC对社区有害，且担忧程度取决于其子版块的定位与规模。版主们报告称，他们已制定规则并采用多种策略以帮助社区预防或遏制AIGC，但由于缺乏可靠的检测工具，执法过程仍依赖经验法则且充满挑战。总体而言，对于在线社区而言，生成式人工智能的威胁并非空穴来风：颠覆性影响已然开始。