08/15/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/15/2024 14:06
08.15.2024
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Updates
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has once again set its sights on artificial intelligence (AI), proposing consumer protections in the use of AI-generated content in robocalls and robotexts. Illegal robocalls and robotexts are already the biggest source of consumer complaints reported to the FCC, and the FCC anticipates that rapidly evolving AI technologies will be used to mislead, misinform, scam, and defraud consumers, exacerbating the unwanted call problem. The FCC, therefore, adopted a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that defines AI-generated calls and requires callers to inform consumers that they are consenting to or receiving an AI-generated call.
This NPRM expands the FCC's efforts to address AI's impact on consumers' rights under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). Previously, the FCC issued a Notice of Inquiry seeking comment on the use of AI in robocalls and texts before declaring that AI-generated voice calls constitute robocalls requiring prior consent. Commenters in these prior proceedings noted that AI offers benefits to consumers, such as improving telecommunications quality and accessibility. The NPRM, therefore, seeks further input on exemptions that promote accessibility and the use of AI to combat illegal robocalls and robotexts.
Proposed Rules
"a call that uses any technology or tool to artificially generate a voice or text using computational technology or other machine learning, including predictive algorithms, and large language models, to process natural language and produce voice or text content to communicate with a called party over an outbound telephone call."
This definition is intended to be broad enough to cover both existing and evolving AI technologies. It is also limited to outbound calls, which places AI technologies used to answer inbound calls-such as those used for customer service-outside the scope of the FCC's regulations.
Takeaways and Next Steps
This NPRM is the latest step by the FCC to (1) mitigate potential risks it believes may arise from emerging AI technologies and (2) determine how to leverage existing technology to combat abusers of AI technologies and protect consumers from unwanted calls and potential fraud. Public comments are due 30 days after the NPRM is published in the Federal Register, which is likely to occur within the next 30 days, and reply comments are due 45 days after publication.
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