As counterfeit hawkers get younger and move to social media, Hong Kong Customs fights back with AI

People who sell fake goods online are no doubt aware that there is always a chance the interested shopper they are communicating with might be a law enforcement agent; but in Hong Kong, those potential customers might not even be humans at all. The Customs and Excise Department of the Special Administrative Region this week unveiled SocNet, a computer program that uses artificial intelligence to flag up suspicious vendors on social media sites - an anti-counterfeiting RoboCop of sorts.