Hey folks!

Ever debated with someone online and thought, “Wow, this person really changed my mind”? Well, turns out... you may have been arguing with a bot.

This month, researchers at the University of Zurich just pulled off one of the wildest internet experiments we’ve seen in a while. Over four months, they unleashed 13 AI bots on the subreddit ‘r/changemyview’. And these bots posed as real people, with personal stories like being a trauma counsellor, and posted over 1,000 comments. All designed to change people’s opinions.

And they killed it. Because the study found that the bots were 6 times more persuasive than actual humans.

But here’s the thing. No one knew it was an experiment. Not Reddit, not the subreddit moderators and definitely not the people being argued with. And that’s shocking because the researchers didn’t just post generic takes. They used AI models to scrape user histories, infer personal details like age, gender and political orientation, and then tailor comments to hit emotional pressure points.

So as the news broke, moderators called it a violation. Reddit threatened legal action. Researchers defended themselves with, “Well... it was for science.” The university gave a warning and promised tougher reviews.

But let’s be honest, this raised every red flag possible. Because AI didn’t just blend in. It became us. It convinced, manipulated and made humans think they were having real conversations.

So yeah, if bots can change minds about Reddit arguments, what’s stopping them from influencing elections, movements or your next big decision?

The Turing Test asked if a machine could fool us into thinking it’s human. But maybe the real Turing Test today isn’t just whether AI sounds human… It’s whether we notice before we start agreeing with it.

Here’s a soundtrack to put you in the mood 🎵

'Naiharva' by Bindhumalini & Vedanth

What caught our eye this week 👀

Salt is getting a health upgrade. But will India bite?

A few months ago, the World Health Organisation (WHO) made a salty announcement.

For the first time ever, it recommended that regular table salt be swapped out for low sodium salt substitutes (LSSS). That is, if you’re a healthy adult without kidney issues.

Why’s that?

Because too much sodium can lead to high blood pressure and a higher risk of heart and kidney diseases. In fact, WHO says that out of the 8 million people dying from poor diets each year, nearly 2 million deaths are linked to excessive sodium intake. That’s a big chunk!

Now, WHO has been warning folks since 2012, asking everyone to cut salt to under 5 grams a day and sodium to under 2 grams. The goal is to have a 30% cut in population-wide sodium intake by 2030.

But the progress has been… well again, salty. The global average sodium intake still sits at 4.3 grams a day, which is more than double the safe limit.

And in India we’re even higher. On average, Indians consume 8 grams of salt daily. So ideally, we should be switching to LSSS.

But here’s the catch. You won’t find much LSSS on grocery shelves. This week, a survey in Chennai found out that 52% of supermarkets stocked it, but only 4% of local kirana stores did.

If you’re wondering why, well, for starters, most people know sugar is bad. You’ll find folks cutting down on sweets, reading labels, switching to jaggery. But salt? It’s the silent one. You toss a pinch or two while cooking and forget about it. No one’s scooping out spoonfuls of salt into their coffee or chai, right?

That’s exactly why excess salt doesn’t get the same hate as sugar. And since it doesn’t feel like a problem, hardly anyone thinks of switching to LSSS. Not many people even know of it, let alone why they should switch to it. Turns out, even some doctors don’t bring it up.

So, if people don’t ask for it, local kirana shops don’t bother stocking it. No demand means no shelf space. Supermarkets and hypermarkets might have some, sure, but they’re also the places where the more health-conscious folks shop.

Then there’s the price. LSSS swaps out some of the sodium chloride (regular salt) with potassium chloride — a fancier, pricier cousin. That makes LSSS almost double the cost of your regular table salt. And for many Indian families, especially in rural areas or low-income urban homes, that difference is enough to stick with the usual stuff.

So yeah, awareness is key. People need to know that excess salt can be just as risky as sugar. And if we really want to cut our salt habit, we’ll need to spread the word first. And maybe even get LSSS into public distribution systems so that everyone, whether rich or poor, has a shot at better heart health.

What do you think?

Infographic 📊

This Day in Financial History📜

19th May, 2007: BSE Completes Demutualisation

For over 130 years, the Bombay Stock Exchange wasn’t just an exchange but also a tightly-knit club of brokers. It was founded in 1875 under a banyan tree and it grew into a formal institution. But until the 2000s, only trading members could own it, manage it and use it. and that also meant that these members were making the rules.

By 2001, there were about 700 active members but there was no clear separation between owners and operators, no independent directors. And unsurprisingly, that lack of oversight led to cracks. Then came the Ketan Parekh scam. The stock market was rocked by allegations of circular trading, price rigging, manipulated scrips and the public trust eroded.

So in 2005, SEBI told all stock exchanges in India to demutualise.

And what did that mean? Well, demutualisation is a fancy term for a simple fix: separate the people who own the exchange from the people who run it and the ones who trade on it. No more mixing roles.

And on 19th May 2007, the BSE completed the demutualisation. It sold 51% of broker members’ stake to about 20 investors including SBI, LIC and Aditya Birla group. So the exchange that once ran on old-school relationships now had a modern corporate board and added accountability.

And it showed. BSE launched a bunch of new indices. It set up India INX, India’s first international exchange at GIFT City. It rolled out trading in commodities and SME listings. And in 2017, BSE itself listed on the exchange, becoming India’s first listed bourse.

Apart from the structure, it was also a change in mindset. The BSE had to start competing, innovating as well as earn investor trust like any business.

Today, BSE’s market cap hovers around one lakh crore, with over 5,500 listed companies—the highest for any exchange in the world.

So the next time you see the Sensex flash on your screen, remember that it took more than just bulls and bears to build one of the modern market exchanges. It took a hard reset. And it began on this day in 2007.

Readers Recommend 🗒️

This week, our reader Brindha Srinivasan recommends reading There Are Rivers in the Sky by Elif Shafak.

Brindha tells that the book is so beautifully written. Set at three different times, it ports us back to different cultures and eras. A must-read!

Thanks for the rec, Brindha.

Finshots Weekly Quiz 🧩

It’s time to announce the winner of our previous weekly quiz. And the winner is…🥁

Sanjana Jha! Congratulations. Keep an eye on your inbox and we’ll get in touch with you soon to send over your Finshots merch. And for the rest of you, don’t forget to check out our Weekly Wrapup for the latest quiz. Answer all the questions correctly, and who knows, you might just see your name here next week!

Until then, send us your book, music, business movies, documentaries or podcast recommendations. We’ll feature them in the newsletter! Also, don’t forget to tell us what you thought of today's edition. Just hit reply to this email (or if you’re reading this on the web, drop us a message: morning@finshots.in).

We’ll see you next Sunday!

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