In a Congressional listening to on Tuesday centered on the Federal Commerce Fee’s work to guard American customers from fraud and different misleading practices, FTC Chair Lina Khan and fellow commissioners warned Home representatives of the potential for contemporary AI applied sciences, like ChatGPT, for use to “turbocharge” fraud. The warning was issued in response to an inquiry over how the Fee was working to guard People from unfair practices associated to technological advances.
Khan replied by agreeing that AI introduced new dangers for the FTC to handle, regardless of the opposite benefits it might current.
“AI presents a complete set of alternatives, but in addition presents a complete set of dangers,” Khan informed the Home representatives. “And I believe we’ve already seen methods during which it may very well be used to turbocharge fraud and scams. We’ve been placing market members on discover that situations during which AI instruments are successfully being designed to deceive folks can place them on the hook for FTC motion,” she acknowledged.
Khan moreover warned that AI’s means to turbocharge fraud must be thought-about a “severe concern.”
To assist fight the issue, the FTC Chair famous its technologists had been being embedded throughout the company’s work, each on the patron safety facet and the competitors facet, to make sure that any points with AI can be correctly recognized and dealt with.
In a follow-up, FTC Commissioner Rebecca Slaughter downplayed Khan’s remarks by explaining the FTC had tailored to new applied sciences over time and has the experience to adapt once more to fight AI-powered fraud.
“There’s a whole lot of noise round AI proper now and it’s essential as a result of it’s in revolutionary know-how in some methods,” Slaughter mentioned. “However our obligation is to do what we’ve at all times carried out — which is apply the instruments we’ve got to those altering applied sciences, make it possible for we’ve got the experience to do this successfully, however to not be scared off by the concept that it is a new revolutionary know-how, and dig proper in on defending folks,” she mentioned.
The Fee testimony, delivered by Khan, Slaughter, and Commissioner Alvaro Bedoya, was introduced earlier than the Home Vitality and Commerce Subcommittee on Innovation, Information, and Commerce, and addressed a variety of matters past AI.
Amongst those who intersected with know-how, the company representatives detailed of their written testimony the FTC’s work to cut back the scourage of spam cellphone calls; its warning to on-line dwelling purchaser Opendoor concerning its misleading claims about potential gross sales costs; the misleading claims made by members of the crypto group; its work to guard customers’ personal well being information collected by web sites and apps; its dealing with of the COPPA (kids’s privateness legislation) violations made by Fortnite maker Epic Video games; its orders to on-line studying platform Chegg over its failure to guard private information; its combatting of junk charges and the lack for customers to simply cancel subscriptions; misleading practices within the gig economic system; and extra.
The company additionally famous that it launched a brand new Workplace of Expertise (OT) in February with the aim of supporting the company’s legislation enforcement and coverage work by providing in-house technical experience, which may assist it to maintain tempo with technological adjustments. The FTC’s testimony particularly referred to the OT’s focus in areas like safety and privateness, digital markets, augmented and digital actuality, the gig work economic system, and advert monitoring applied sciences, along with “automated decision-making,” or what may embrace AI.
“The creation of the Workplace of Expertise builds on the FTC’s efforts over time to develop its in-house technological experience, and it brings the company in keeping with different main antitrust and shopper safety enforcers world wide,” the FTC mentioned.