Harnessing AI to protect youth from harmful gambling ads

Source: Alive & Thrive

Exploitative marketing strategies have long been used by industries such as tobacco, alcohol, commercial milk formula, and, more recently, online gambling. Despite their very different products, these industries share a troubling similarity: relentless digital advertising designed to normalize consumption and maximize profit, often at the expense of public health and wellbeing.

At the 16th European Society for Prevention Research (EUSPR) Conference in Germany, the French Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction (OFDT), in partnership with Alive & Thrive, introduced an innovative new tool: AGATTA. This artificial intelligence (AI) system scans digital gambling advertisements and verifies whether they comply with French regulations aimed at protecting minors from harmful exposure.

Why Gambling Ads Are a Public Health Issue

Digital marketing has made gambling an almost constant presence in the lives of young people. Whether embedded in sports content, promoted by influencers, or pushed through social media feeds, gambling ads are designed to capture attention with promises of excitement and instant rewards.

This overexposure poses real risks. In France, one in ten 17-year-olds placed at least one sports bet in 2022, according to research by OFDT. Alarmingly, exposure to gambling ads is one of the strongest predictors of early gambling behavior. Starting young makes it much more likely that gambling will develop into a problem later in life, with lasting consequences for mental health, financial security, and family wellbeing.

AGATTA: An AI-Powered Prevention Tool

AGATTA is short for AI-Guided Gambling Advertising Tracking and Transgression Assessment, representing a new generation of prevention tools that combine technology with public health goals. It uses AI to:

• Automatically scan large numbers of online gambling ads.

• Check if they comply with French rules designed to protect minors.

• Flag ads breaking the rules so regulators can take action.

By embedding these functions into a single monitoring tool, AGATTA helps regulators keep pace with the overwhelming volume and speed of today’s digital advertising.

Built on Proven Technology: From VIVID to AGATTA

AGATTA builds upon VIVID (the Virtual Violations Detector), a digital monitoring tool originally developed by Alive & Thrive to track violations in the online marketing of commercial milk formula in Viet Nam.

VIVID has since been adapted to monitor harmful digital marketing in multiple industries and countries. In partnership with UNICEF, national agencies, and civil society organizations, the tool is being rolled out in Argentina, France, Mexico, Mongolia, and Laos. Its application extends to detecting violations in advertising for the alcohol and tobacco industries, where protecting children and families is just as critical.

This expansion demonstrates how digital monitoring technologies provide a transferable model for addressing harmful commercial practices that compromise public health.

Aligning with the Prevention Continuum

The EUSPR conference emphasized “The prevention continuum”: the need to integrate broad, population-level strategies with targeted interventions. AGATTA brings this to life by enabling broad, real-time monitoring to precisely identify harmful advertising.

The collaboration between OFDT and Alive & Thrive also reflects EUSPR’s call for cross-sectoral cooperation, bringing together expertise in technology, public health, regulatory enforcement, and social protection. This integrated approach strengthens national capacities while reinforcing the international agenda on child and adolescent protection.

As digital platforms increasingly profit from user attention, the line between consumer choice and informed decisions with consumer protection measures is becoming blurred. Policymakers need to equip themselves with equally advanced monitoring and enforcement tools. AGATTA shows that integrating AI into prevention systems is both possible and necessary to close enforcement gaps, protect public health, and safeguard the rights of young people in today’s digital age.