Greg's Corner

Using chatbots to fight human trafficking

Chatbots are computer programs that are designed to converse like humans through messaging apps. They are mostly used by companies as a customer service alternative. However, a Seattle-based advocacy group is using this technology to try to discourage people from soliciting from underage victims of human trafficking.

Seattle Against Slavery places ads on certain classifieds sites that appear to be for prostitution. When someone responds to the ad, the chatbot engages with them in conversation. The chatbot then tells the responder that it’s a 15-year-old girl. If the response the chatbot receives about being underage is positive, it responds with “buying sex is a crime that harms women the world over.” According to SAS, the chat bot is designed to make someone think twice before engaging in such harmful behavior. While it’s currently not being used for prosecution purposes, SAS says that is a possibility in the future.

SAS also says that when they post one of their fake ads they get over 250 responses within the first hour. They’ve also said that the chatbot was able to relay the message in at least 1500 instances in the testing phase alone. This, among many other number of data points, shows just how widespread the problem of human trafficking has become. The greatest hurdle with trying to curtail trafficking is the fact that it’s assisted by a few large classifieds sites that do nothing to dissuade this modern-day slavery from persisting.