14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft is becoming more interested in chat bots, and this time the company has created a service that helps troll Internet users who are looking to buy sex online and even send warnings of reports to law enforcement.
The Redmond-based software giant joined an effort called Project Intercept launched by Seattle Against Slavery and supposed to reduce the number of users looking to purchase sex online by wasting their time and display legal warnings in private conversations.
So what the chat bot does is talk to Internet users who connect via online ads, trying to mimic a real person only to keep the user busy. Once a certain time is spent in a conversation, the chat bot displays a warning message telling that all messages were sent to the police.
“Buying sex from anyone is illegal and can cause serious long term harm to the victim, as well as further the cycle of human trafficking. Details of this incident will be reviewed further and you may be contacted by law enforcement for questioning. Do not attempt to buy sex again. If will not fulfill what you are searching for,” the warning displayed to users reads.
14,000 messages sent since launch
The bot was created by Microsoft’s engineers who developed PhotoDNA, a technology that’s being used by organizations worldwide to automatically detect and report sexual content involving children. Microsoft says its bot has already chatted with about 1,000 users, and almost half of them got to see the warning message.
“If law enforcement perform stings in a city they might get a few dozen people, but we know there have to be thousands and thousands of guys out there looking to buy sex,” says Robert Beiser, executive director of Seattle Against Slavery. “Wasting their time and delivering a deterrence message could change their perspective on what they’re doing.”
The chat bot was injected in ads planted online, and Microsoft says the program will continue, most likely with a growing number of companies to join the effort.