FTC warns tech companies against AI shenanigans that harm consumers

Since its establishment in 1914, the US Federal Trade Commission has stood as a bulwark against the fraud, deception, and shady dealings that American consumers face every day -- fining brands that "review hijack" Amazon listings, making it easier to cancel magazine subscriptions and blocking exploitative ad targeting. On Monday, Michael Atleson, Attorney, FTC Division of Advertising Practices, laid out both the commission's reasoning for how emerging generative AI systems like ChatGPT, Dall-E 2 could be used to violate the FTC Act's spirit of unfairness, and what it would do to companies found in violation. "Under the FTC Act, a practice is unfair if it causes more harm than good," Atleson said. "It's unfair if it causes or is likely to cause substantial injury to consumers that is not reasonably avoidable by consumers and not outweighed by countervailing benefits to consumers or to competition." He notes that the new generation of chatbots like Bing, Bard and ChatGPT can be used to influence the user's, "beliefs, emotions, and behavior."