Artificial Intelligence Used to Combat Illegal E-Cigarette Sales Online

According to a report from The Grocer on July 31st, artificial intelligence technology is being used to search and identify illegal e-cigarette products and unauthorized online retailers on the internet.

The technology, known as AIVA (Artificial Intelligence Vape Assessment), was developed by a British non-profit industry association called "Our Vape Advocacy," which is currently carrying out a mission to eliminate all illegal e-cigarettes.

James Van Aalst, the developer of AIVA and the General Manager of "We Advocate for e-Cigarettes," stated:

AIVA is able to review each website and advertisement in a way that closely resembles human scrutiny, as it understands the marketing tactics of e-cigarette retailers.

He added:

It can cross-reference product images with products being sold and identify advertisements that do not comply with approved products by the pharmaceutical regulatory agency. It can also identify products that are often improperly marketed, products that look like cartoons, or products that resemble food items such as ice cream, beverages, or candy.

AIVA is currently in the preliminary testing phase, but has already identified approximately 500 illegal products being sold by around 100 underground sellers.

This AI technology "searches like a human, using Google and other search engines," and it will report illegal products and their reasons for non-compliance.

The information collected by AIVA will be manually reviewed to ensure there are no errors.

By simply clicking, this information will be sent to the relevant agencies responsible for taking action on this.

The "We advocate for e-cigarette" organization is also warning payment processing companies that support underground seller websites, such as Worldpay and Viva Wallet, have been alerted to about 50 websites selling illegal products.

AIVA is currently a free tool that assists the Trading Standards Agency by directly taking action against these violations, but the agency is urging transaction monitoring teams of card terminal providers to collaborate with "We advocate e-cigarette" to avoid penalties.

The industry association stated that AIVA is "an important milestone in our commitment to protecting public health and ensuring the legal sale of e-cigarette products.