---
type: source
id: yeung-2026-isthisai-strategies
title: Is This AI? Longitudinal Analysis of Strategies Used for AI Detection on Two Subreddits
authors:
- Christina Yeung
- Galen Weld
- Jaron Mink
- Franziska Roesner
year: 2026
venue: Proceedings of the AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES)
volume: 9(4)
pages: 2800-2812
doi: 10.1609/aies.v9i4.43351
peer_review: peer-reviewed-conference
evidence_tier: B
design: Mixed-methods longitudinal content analysis of crowd AI-detection discussions on r/isthisAI and r/RealOrAI over 2 years 8 months
modality:
- image-general
- video
- text
stimuli: 13,098 posts and 222,060 comments
n_participants: null
n_note: observational; posts/comments rather than participants
topics:
- detection-strategies
- folk-heuristics
- crowds
summary: Catalogued 12 strategies people use in the wild to judge whether content is AI-generated (e.g., close inspection of physical details, recognising AI content trends, assumptions about model capabilities) and showed that strategies shift over time with AI capabilities and online trends.
results:
- metric: Corpus
  value: 13,098 posts; 222,060 comments
  note: 2 years 8 months
  source_location: abstract
- metric: Strategies catalogued
  value: '12'
  note: prevalence analysed; no percentages in abstract
  source_location: abstract
- metric: Change over time
  value: strategies and mental models shift with AI capabilities and social trends
  note: ''
  source_location: abstract
moderators:
- Time / generator generation
limitations:
- Does not measure accuracy of strategies
- Self-selected Reddit communities
- Values not checked against full text
verification:
  status: verified-abstract
  confidence: medium
  checked: 2026-10-18
  via: ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AIES/article/view/43351 (abstract page)
url: null
pmid: null
pmcid: null
arxiv_id: null
openalex_id: null
oa_url: null
cited_in:
- MR-0001
updated: '2026-10-18'
---

# Is This AI? Longitudinal Analysis of Strategies Used for AI Detection on Two Subreddits

> **Source record** `yeung-2026-isthisai-strategies` · 2026 · Proceedings of the AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES)  
> **Evidence tier:** B (peer-reviewed-conference) · **Verification:** verified-abstract (compiler confidence: medium)  
> **Bottom line:** Catalogued 12 strategies people use in the wild to judge whether content is AI-generated (e.g., close inspection of physical details, recognising AI content trends, assumptions about model capabilities) and showed that strategies shift over time with AI capabilities and online trends.

## Citation {#citation}

Christina Yeung, Galen Weld, Jaron Mink, Franziska Roesner (2026). Is This AI? Longitudinal Analysis of Strategies Used for AI Detection on Two Subreddits. *Proceedings of the AAAI/ACM Conference on AI, Ethics, and Society (AIES)*, 9(4), 2800-2812. https://doi.org/10.1609/aies.v9i4.43351

Verification entry (identifiers, resolvers, claims with source locations): [/data/citations.json#yeung-2026-isthisai-strategies](/data/citations.json#yeung-2026-isthisai-strategies)

## Study design {#design}

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Design | Mixed-methods longitudinal content analysis of crowd AI-detection discussions on r/isthisAI and r/RealOrAI over 2 years 8 months |
| Modality | image-general, video, text |
| Stimuli | 13,098 posts and 222,060 comments |
| Participants (N) | not recorded |
| N detail | observational; posts/comments rather than participants |
| Topics | detection-strategies, folk-heuristics, crowds |

## Results {#results}

| Metric | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Corpus | 13,098 posts; 222,060 comments | 2 years 8 months |
| Strategies catalogued | 12 | prevalence analysed; no percentages in abstract |
| Change over time | strategies and mental models shift with AI capabilities and social trends |  |

## Moderators {#moderators}

- Time / generator generation

## Limitations {#limitations}

- Does not measure accuracy of strategies
- Self-selected Reddit communities
- Values not checked against full text

## Cited in {#cited-in}

- [MR-0001](/metareports/human-detection-accuracy.md): Human Detection of Deepfakes: Accuracy, Bias, Confidence, and Training

## Verification {#verification}

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Status | `verified-abstract` |
| Compiler confidence | medium |
| Checked on | 2026-10-18 |
| Via | ojs.aaai.org/index.php/AIES/article/view/43351 (abstract page) |

Values on this page have not all been checked against the full text. Confirm them against the primary source before high-stakes use.