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Nason Maani and Anna Gilmore published a study revealing that the 2023 UK "smoke-free generation" consultation was flooded with a large number of fake responses submitted by AI bots. The study, published in Tobacco Control, shows that the consultation received a total of 118,756 responses, of which 90,835 (76%) were submitted by bots, and all but two opposed banning disposable e-cigarettes. The UK Department of Health and Social Care used bot-detection methods to identify these responses, saying they were often copied en masse and sent at high frequency from a small number of IP addresses, and has excluded them from decision-making. The researchers say this may be the first documented case of large-scale automated interference in a public health policy consultation.
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Study reveals AI bots flooded the 2023 UK disposable vape ban consultationDevelopments
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- Source:The Guardian Technology
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Oct 28
The Guardian Technology
Study reveals AI bots flooded the 2023 UK disposable vape ban consultation
A study published in Tobacco Control reveals that of the 118,756 responses received by the UK's 2023 "smoke-free generation" consultation, 90,835 (76%) were submitted by bots, and all but two of them opposed banning disposable vapes. The UK Department of Health and Social Care identified these responses using bot-detection methods, saying they were often copied en masse and sent at high frequency from a small number of IP addresses, and has excluded them from decision-making; the researchers say this may be the first documented case of large-scale automated interference in a public health policy consultation.