UK government consultation on disposable vapes swamped by AI bots in 2023
Researchers found that AI bots generated 90,835 of the 118,756 responses to the UK’s 2023 public consultation on banning disposable vapes, accounting for 76% of submissions. The automated responses, sent from a small number of IP addresses, consistently opposed the proposed ban and were detected by the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) using bot-detection methods. The DHSC excluded…
Key points
- AI bots submitted 90,835 fake responses to the UK’s 2023 disposable vapes consultation, 76% of total submissions
- All but two bot responses opposed the proposed ban and originated from a small number of IP addresses
- DHSC excluded automated responses but warns future interference may be harder to detect
The study, published in Tobacco Control, highlights this as the first known instance of large-scale automated interference in a UK public health policy consultation. Experts warn that such tactics could become harder to detect in the future, undermining public trust in government processes. While the DHSC claims its controls worked effectively, critics argue that the threat of AI-driven manipulation poses broader risks to evidence-based policymaking.
AI bots flooded 2023 UK government consultation on disposable vapes ban
The Guardian AI · 27 October 2026
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This text was published by The Guardian AI and written by Denis Campbell Health policy editor. It is reproduced here with attribution so you can read it in full; the rights remain with the publisher. Read it at the source ↗
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