Microsoft Italy, National Mint and Prosecco DOC Consortium against counterfeiting with AI

You bought a bottle of Prosecco Doc, but you are not convinced of its authenticity: you received it suspiciously, the label has something that doesn’t convince you and above all the flavor on the palate isn’t that great. You could pick up your smartphone, take a photo and analyze the image with artificial intelligence, which may or may not confirm your doubts: Has the Made in Italy brand been falsified? Have I been scammed? Microsoft Italy and the Istituto Poligrafico e National Mint have signed a bilateral agreement that launches a strategic collaboration based on AI to protect the authenticity of Italian products from the phenomenon of counterfeiting, and one of the pilot projects will concern precisely the Prosecco Doc Consortium, the most exported Italian wine in the world, but also the most imitated
The agreement includes the development of a virtual assistant based on Azure OpenAi artificial intelligence, together with Copilot and the Mint’s proprietary models capable of verifying the authenticity of products and analyzing traceability data. As regards Prosecco Doc, the most loved Italian bubbles in the world, with 616 million bottles produced in 2023 (81% of which destined for export), the creation of a generative artificial intelligence chatbot called Brand Protection Assistant is planned: a tool that will provide users with a series of useful information about the product, including verifying the authenticity of the labels with a simple photo of the State label. Furthermore, through the photo of the label, the virtual assistant will be able to provide detailed information on the origin, characteristics and combinations: a replicable and scalable pilot project also for all other Made in Italy products, both in the agri-food and non-agri-food supply chain.
“The agreement between Microsoft and the Istituto Poligrafico is a real source of satisfaction for us - commented Giancarlo Guidolin, president of the Prosecco DOC Consortium - consumers will be protected like never before, making access to information easier and immediate. We are happy that our product can be protected by implementing the use of technology in our favor. Some time ago, in fact, we started a fruitful collaboration with the National Mint to identify innovative technological solutions, capable of ensuring an ever greater guarantee towards consumers, which is why we look to the future with enthusiasm, certain that this innovation will bring concrete and lasting benefits to the world of designations of origin”.