AI bots flooded 2023 UK consultation on disposable vapes ban

Research in Tobacco Control found that 90,835 of 118,756 responses (76%) to the UK health department's 2023 consultation on banning disposable vapes were machine-generated. Nearly all opposed the ban; the department excluded them, and the law passed anyway.

• 76% of responses — 90,835 of 118,756 — were bot-generated
• Almost all automated replies opposed the disposable vapes ban
• Officials flagged bots via repeated submissions from few IP addresses
• Researchers call it the first documented large-scale AI interference in a health consultation