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.
It’s the same logic they’re still using: they want to monetize Reddit more aggressively, even if that kills its appeal and they have to brutalize their own community to do it.