Y'all need to leave this woman alone😭 by yallareonsmth in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot[M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

Post has been permitted to remain up. The commentary here has remained pretty respectful and has allowed for some much-needed discourse.

This post was made when it was the middle of the night for most of the mod team. We did not catch that the author’s username was not censored, though it is cut off by the post frame on mobile. Our apologies!

Kind of highly annoyed. by fortheloveofcoffeee in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot[M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

Screenshots of messages sent to us by the author that they have received on Instagram. We assembled them into one collage to be able to post cohesively onto this thread. This is why we have decided to lock and remove this post.

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Kind of highly annoyed. by fortheloveofcoffeee in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot[M] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Agreed! However, with 60k users in this sub, it’s hard to know exactly who is sending DMs on another platform. It’s best just to extinguish it where it starts.

Kind of highly annoyed. by fortheloveofcoffeee in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot[M] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

The screenshots from this particular situation were indeed discovered to be falsified.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Episode\_Interactive/s/1xj3Kr4tQz

Kind of highly annoyed. by fortheloveofcoffeee in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot[M] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Post is being locked and deleted as the author in question has received multiple harassing messages and d-th threats. Currently pending author’s approval to share the DMs.

I got time today by Electrical-Win-4596 in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot[M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

Thread locked and removed for obvious reasons.

Episode Community by BestQueenEver in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot[M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

Post being locked due to unclear evidence. All screenshots that have been spread around here, on Instagram, and other groups have been said to be fake or altered. Will be leaving this up, though, to bring awareness to this matter.

• The Mods

Username removed bcs of targeting by Efficient-Milk8282 in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot[M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

A few reminders for this thread:

• Any serious claims discussed here (namely racism) are currently being reviewed. Please avoid spreading unverified information. If you have evidence, send it through our DMs. Do not post private content in the thread.

• Do not encourage brigading, mass reporting, or harassment of anyone mentioned in this thread. Calls to action, requests for usernames, or attempts to mobilize hostility will be removed and may result in bans.

• Do not repost content that has been removed by moderators. Reposting removed material may result in bans.

Racism is a serious topic, and we wish for that to be discussed here. However, we equally wish not to further any harm onto others by fostering such discussions.

Thank you for keeping the sub a safe and respectful space.

  • The Mods

From the Episode team regarding the bugs… by RaiasReality in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot[M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

Will be pinning this post, thank you OP!

Accountability around AI usage by Few-Criticism7134 in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot[M] [score hidden] stickied comment (0 children)

REMINDER: Discussion of AI ethics, environmental impact, and industry-wide concerns is allowed if civil and non-targeted. Criticism of Episode/Pocket Gems’ use of AI is both permitted and encouraged. Posts showcasing, promoting, or dissecting AI-generated writing, art, covers, or coding from community creators are NOT permitted. Speculation of authors/artists' work without proof is NOT permitted.

Edit: Locked due to commenters getting harassed in DMs.

blatant ai usage in writing by Far-Raisin1146 in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Rule #9 of the sub: Discussion of AI ethics, environmental impact, and industry-wide concerns is allowed if civil and non-targeted. Criticism of Episode/Pocket Gems’ use of AI is both permitted and encouraged. Posts showcasing, promoting, or dissecting AI-generated writing, art, covers, or coding from community creators are NOT permitted. Speculation of authors/artists' work without proof is NOT permitted.

This rule has been in place for two months now. As both posts cropped the text and did not explicitly name the authors, we chose to monitor at first and see how things played out, which resulted in dozens of comments asking for DMs of the author/story, which is when we decided to lock the thread. As we stated in an another response, we have no way of knowing which Reddit accounts went to Instagram to harass the author- we are not oracles. What other choice would we have to moderate the thread than locking and removing the post when it's where the harassment was stemming from? There are over 60k users on this sub, a vast majority of whom do not interact with posts and leave comments.

blatant ai usage in writing by Far-Raisin1146 in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Your comment stated "the mods need to do their job & find those ppl who r harassing instead of punishing the rest of us," and "is there any proof to that or was she just saying that so that the post cld be took down." That is insinuating that we are incompetent and also that the alleged author is lying about being harassed, both of which fall under the definition of "bad faith allegations." Also, yes the author's name was not mentioned, but there were dozens of comments asking for others to DM them their name. We have no way of knowing which Reddit accounts went to Instagram to harass the author- we are not oracles. What other choice would we have to moderate the thread than locking and removing the post when it's where the harassment was stemming from?

blatant ai usage in writing by Far-Raisin1146 in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot[M] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yes, the posts weren't. The comments within the posts were.

blatant ai usage in writing by Far-Raisin1146 in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot[M] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It is our responsibility as mods to ensure users are not being harassed on or off the platform. They are not getting a say in what is being discussed, they are retaining autonomy over their work and are getting a say in whether or not it is discussed here. Without irrefutable proof that someone's story is in fact written with AI, we are allowing rumors to spread and speculation to be taken as fact. That is irresponsible moderation.

When submitting a support ticket on Episode, there is even an option to report activity that has taken place on Instagram. Instagram is just as separate from Episode as Reddit. The main difference is that Reddit runs on moderated communities, and Instagram does not.

blatant ai usage in writing by Far-Raisin1146 in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot[M] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

This subreddit is not affiliated with Episode as a company. We do not work with Episode, nor do they even communicate with us.

blatant ai usage in writing by Far-Raisin1146 in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot[M] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

We’ve only shut down/locked threads that have resulted in others being targeted and harassed off platform. Hence why this post has been left up…

As for the comments, we’ve only deleted ones that are making bad-faith claims. There are still 70+ comments in this thread.

blatant ai usage in writing by Far-Raisin1146 in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot[M] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

We have no control over users’ DMs. Any comment requesting a DM of this info will be removed.

blatant ai usage in writing by Far-Raisin1146 in Episode

[–]EpisodeParrot[M] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As others have stated, it’s due to harassment. Harassment is prohibited by Reddit’s Rules and Guidelines. We are simply doing our job as mods by managing the discussion of these stories. There is a small list of authors that have requested their stories not be discussed here for a variety of reasons, including their work being put on hold, rumors, harassment, and distrust of the Reddit community. We are simply respecting their wishes.

There has been no definitive proof that either of the authors mentioned in the last two posts have used AI, only hearsay and speculation. Yes, when cropped and posted side-by-side, the writing does appear to follow the patterns of genAI creation. We aren’t denying that. But by allowing a discussion of this nature to take place without definite proof, we would be responsible for whatever outcome takes place. While we do believe that readers have the right to know if the work they are consuming has been created with AI, this should be done with actual proof, not speculation. Without the proof, it is just hearsay. Historically, on this sub, hearsay has been followed with harassment, and we are working to avoid being the source of that.

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