AGE-OLD TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES TO PROTECT CONSUMERS NEED TO BE SHARPENED IN THE LIGHT OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

We all are consumers by birth and remain consumers till death, and at the same time, it is also true that a consumer becomes the victim of exploitation in different ways. Adulterations, underweight, duplicate or cloned goods, and misleading and insufficient information are some ways of victimizing consumers. Today, we are standing at a juncture where we have a series of legislative, judicial, and administrative efforts to protect consumers. On the other hand, we have a plethora of incidents of exploitation of consumers. The nature of the legislation available for the protection of consumers is not purely criminal but sometimes civil or sometimes partially civil. The complexity and tedious legal process of law, along with adequate remedies available to the victims of consumer exploitation, made every scholar think of some foolproof mechanism to resolve disputes related to the exploitation of consumers. Unfortunately, one can make out that most of the tools and techniques available for the protection of consumers are gradually becoming blunt or obsolete over time. Development in the Information and Technology sector has now changed the entire scenario world over. Interference of artificial intelligence in every sector of life, globalization of the marketand awareness of consumers are a few examples of this paradigm change in consumer protection. This paper focuses on exploring the possibilities of using artificial intelligence to support the mechanism of consumer protection. Also, it focuses on studying and analyzing judicial and scholarly opinions to make the exploitation of consumers purely a criminal offense. Finally, it is an endeavor to research and put forward some concrete suggestions, including using artificial intelligence to curb the menace of consumer exploitation