What is This New Feature?
The new tool, currently in a limited experiment, allows users to switch between the traditional "Read" mode and a new "Play" mode on selected posts. When a user chooses "Play," the feature generates a vertical, TikTok-style video. An AI-generated voice
reads the original post and a curated selection of comments aloud. As the narration proceeds, the corresponding words are highlighted on-screen, similar to karaoke. To ensure transparency, each video is clearly labeled with the message: "Real conversation voiced by AI." The test started on web browsers on August 17 and expanded to iOS and Android the following day, initially limited to manually selected, English-language posts.
Why Is Reddit Doing This?
This move is a direct response to a content trend that has flourished on other platforms. For years, creators on TikTok and YouTube have scraped interesting Reddit threads, used AI voices to narrate them, and paired the audio with unrelated video footage, attracting millions of views. Reddit CEO Steve Huffman acknowledged this phenomenon, noting the rise of "podcasts where people read Reddit content." By creating its own tool, Reddit aims to capture the engagement and ad revenue currently going to third-party creators. The feature also aligns with Reddit’s broader push into video, which includes the recent introduction of video comments, as the company seeks to attract new users and increase time spent on the platform.
How the AI Brings Posts to Life
The technology behind the feature uses AI to handle several tasks at once. According to a company spokesperson, the experiment utilizes multi-voice text-to-speech, subtitles, and visual templates to bring conversations to life. This means different AI voices may be used for the original poster and the various commenters to create a more dynamic listening experience. The visuals consist of screenshots of the posts themselves rather than AI-generated imagery, with the text serving as the main visual element. The posts chosen for the initial test appear to be text-only, without embedded images or GIFs. Reddit is framing the experiment as a way to make content more accessible, allowing users to listen to threads while walking, exercising, or multitasking.
A New Chapter for a Classic Platform
For a platform historically resistant to major changes, this AI-driven video feature represents a significant cultural shift. While it could make popular subreddits like r/AskReddit and r/explainlikeimfive even more accessible, it also raises questions about the future of the user experience. The AI-generated videos could add a new layer of content discovery, even for older posts; one of the first examples shared by Reddit was a video created from an eight-year-old thread in the r/boardgames community. However, the success of the feature will depend on its execution. Reddit is manually curating the posts for now and also selecting which comments appear in the narrated videos. This level of control may be necessary to avoid generating low-quality or nonsensical content, but it also means the AI videos may not always reflect the full context or highest-voted opinions of a thread.
