The FCC fears an AI-powered spam call apocalypse

While companies like Microsoft and Nvidia are all-in on the power of next-generation machine learning algorithms, some regulators are dreading what it might mean for our already-stressed communication networks. The chairwoman of the US Federal Communications Commission, for one, who's just proposed an investigation into what "AI" could mean for even more spam calls and texts. The FCC will vote to adopt a multi-tiered action in November. Chairwoman Rosencworcel, who's served on the Commission since 2012 and as its executive since being confirmed late in 2021, is particularly concerned with how newly empowered AI tools could affect senior citizens. The FCC's initial press release (PDF link) lists four main goals: determining whether AI technologies fall under the Comission's jurisdiction via the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, if and when future AI tech might do the same, how AI impacts existing regulatory frameworks, and if the FCC should consider ways to verify the authenticity of auto-generated AI voice and text from "trusted sources."