Warning issued after 'first instance of large-scale AI interference' in government consultation

Artificial intelligence bots were responsible for over three quarters of responses to a government consultation regarding plans to create a smoke-free generation and restrict vape sales, a study has found.

According to the analysis, these submissions were "overwhelmingly targeted" at opposing proposed restrictions on disposable e-cigarettes.

Academics believe this represents the first recorded instance of widespread, automated interference in a formal, public health consultation.

The Tobacco and Vapes Act received Royal Assent in April, making it illegal to ever sell tobacco products to anyone born on or after January 1 2009.

It also introduced a ban on the sale of disposable vapes – which came into force in June last year – alongside measures to restrict the flavours and marketing of e-cigarettes.

Prior to the proposals becoming law, a public consultation took place in October 2023.

For the study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, experts at the University of Edinburgh examined published consultation reports as well as Freedom of Information request data submitted to the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).

It found that 118,756 responses were submitted to the consultation.

However, DHSC identified 76% – more than 90,000 – as fraudulent using bot-detection methods.

Almost all bot-generated responses targeted multiple choice questions opposing plans to restrict sales of disposable vapes, with the same number reporting they had learnt of the consultation on social media.

After the bot responses were excluded, some 79.6% of valid responses supported plans around disposable vapes.

Researchers said: “This appears to be the first documented instance of large-scale, automated interference in a formal, public health policy consultation.

“The scale and directional consistency of bot responses suggest a co-ordinated campaign, consistent with prior evidence of tobacco industry efforts to manipulate public consultations through mass co-ordinated submissions.”

They added that is it “not possible to ascertain the commercial origins of such a campaign”, but highlighted that “transnational tobacco companies have sought to swamp earlier public consultations with favourable responses, using mass recruitment campaigns and postcard submissions”.

Experts also warned that bolstering detection capacity and safeguards “will be essential” as “bot sophistication increases”.

They said: “While in this instance these submissions were screened and excluded, developments in bots require a constant evolution of screening tools, and such campaigns often take place with little or no public awareness, particularly in areas such as vaping regulation, which remains an active topic of policy discussion in many geographic contexts.

“Consultations at other levels, or in other contexts where resources are more restricted and there is a lack of capacity to screen such findings, may be at greater risk of influence.”

A DHSC spokesperson said: “We always have robust controls in place to prevent the manipulation of our public consultations and those controls worked effectively in this case.

“As a result, the fake responses were removed and the consultation helped inform the landmark action we are taking to create a smoke-free generation.

“We will remain alert to interference of this kind in future consultation processes and we will not be deterred from doing what is necessary to promote healthier living.”