Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan cautioned on Tuesday that the rise of artificial intelligence tools, such as ChatGPT, presents a significant risk of “turbocharging” consumer harms, specifically through an increase in fraud and scams. Speaking before House lawmakers, Khan emphasized that the potential for these technologies to be utilized for deceptive practices, including the impersonation of individuals, is a major concern for the agency.
While recent innovations in AI have garnered significant attention for their capabilities in generating convincing essays, emails, images, and audio, the FTC is focused on the darker side of this rapid development. Despite ongoing debates among federal policymakers regarding the need for specific new AI regulations to address concerns like algorithmic discrimination and privacy, the FTC maintains that it already possesses substantial authority to investigate companies under current statutes.
FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter noted that the agency has a long history of adapting its enforcement strategies to keep pace with evolving technologies. She stated that the commission’s obligation is to apply existing legal tools to these new advancements rather than being deterred by the perception that the technology is revolutionary. Addressing the notion that complex algorithms might shield companies from responsibility, Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya asserted that businesses cannot avoid liability by labeling their software a “black box.” According to Bedoya, the agency’s existing authority over unfair and deceptive practices, civil rights laws, and the Equal Credit Opportunity Act remains fully applicable, and companies are required to abide by these established legal standards.
The agency has previously issued public guidance for AI companies and recently received a request to investigate OpenAI. The request centers on allegations that the developer of ChatGPT has misled consumers regarding the limitations and capabilities of its technology.
“Throughout the FTC’s history we have had to adapt our enforcement to changing technology,” said FTC Commissioners Rebecca Slaughter. “Our obligation is to do what we’ve always done, which is to apply the tools we have to these changing technologies … [and] not be scared off by this idea that this is a new, revolutionary technology.”
