WorldThe GuardianAI bots flooded 2023 UK government consultation on disposable vapes ban
AI bots generated three-quarters of all responses to the UK government's 2023 consultation on banning disposable vapes, in what researchers call the first known AI attack on health policymaking.
Three-quarters of all responses were machine-generated in failed attempt to stop bill from passing into law, research finds
Research published in Tobacco Control revealed AI bots flooded a UK government consultation with over 90,000 fake responses opposing a ban on disposable vapes.
The Department of Health found 76% of the 118,756 responses were bot-generated, often duplicated and sent at high frequency from a small number of IP addresses.
The UK government excluded the fake responses and passed the vapes ban into law, but researchers warn future AI manipulation campaigns could be much harder to catch.
Researchers warn future AI bot campaigns may be harder to detect, raising the risk that public health policy anywhere could be manipulated by a small number of powerful interests.
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