Will this undermine most of what makes IAmA special? Probably. But Reddit leadership has all the funds they need to hire people to perform those extra tasks we formerly undertook as volunteer moderators, and we’d be happy to collaborate with them if they choose to do so.
replace them with who and how though? For loyalty and allegiance they’ll have to wind up paying someone eventually. If they really think they’re just going to be able to find some 15 year old on summer break willing to do it for free, it’ll only last so long. That stuff takes work.