In a hearing before the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Data, and Commerce, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned Congress of potential risks posed by modern AI technologies such as ChatGPT, which have the potential to “turbocharge” fraud. The warning was in response to an inquiry regarding the Commission’s role in protecting American consumers from deceptive practices related to new technologies.
FTC Chair Lina Khan spoke on behalf of the Commission, noting that such technologies must be handled carefully and monitored for deceptive practices. She added that the FTC was putting market participants “on notice” that the agency may take action against those utilizing AI tools to deceive individuals. Khan also warned that such practices posed a “serious concern” and that the FTC had taken adequate steps to protect consumers. Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter agreed with Khan, though she downplayed her warning by emphasizing the FTC’s ability to grow and adapt their expertise to emerging technologies.
The FTC’s testimony focused on a wide range of topics and outlined the agency’s efforts to protect consumer data and prevent prevalence of fraud, spam phone calls and deceptive claims in the crypto-currency and gig work industry. The agency additionally noted the launch of the Office of Technology (OT), which promises to offer in-house technical experience to aid in consumer protections.
The company mentioned in this article is Opendoor, a consumer online home buying platform. The FTC warned Opendoor for deceptive claims about potential sales prices, noting that the company needed to take adequate steps to protect consumer’s rights. Further, the person mentioned in this article is American competition lawyer Rebecca Slaughter, who works in antitrust and competition law. She acted as a follow up to Khan’s remarks and discussed the FTC’s ability to adjust to new technologies and fight against AI-powered fraud.
