The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) will vote next month on whether to take an exploratory look at artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and the potential of regulating their use in the context of preventing illegal and unwanted robocalls and robotexts – which has long been an enforcement priority at the commission.
The agency announced on Oct. 25 that it will consider at its Nov. 15 open meeting a notice of inquiry “seeking to better understand the implications of Artificial Intelligence technologies as part of the Commission’s ongoing efforts to protect consumers from unwanted and illegal telephone calls and text messages under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).”
The FCC often uses notices of inquiry as a preliminary fact-finding step before deciding whether to move forward with rulemaking proceedings.
“As artificial intelligence (AI) technologies that can generate content become increasingly prevalent, they have the potential to perform tasks that would ordinarily require human participation,” the FCC said. “These include interactive communications by voice calls and texts to consumers. While these technologies can benefit consumers, they can also pose new privacy and safety challenges.”
“Specifically, the NOI seeks information on how these technologies may alter the functioning of the existing regulatory framework so that the Commission may formulate policies that benefit consumers by ensuring that they continue to receive the privacy protections afforded under the TCPA,” the commission said.
The notice of inquiry, if approved by the five-member FCC next month, will invite comment on whether the agency should define AI technologies “including the particular uses of AI technologies that are relevant to fulfilling the Commission’s statutory responsibilities under the TCPA, which protects consumers from non-emergency calls and texts made using an autodialer or containing an artificial or prerecorded voice,” the agency said.
The notice of inquiry also would seek comment on how AI tech may impact consumers who receive robocalls and robotexts “including any potential benefits and risks that these emerging technologies may create,” the FCC said.
Digging further into the nature of AI technology, the notice also would seek comment on “whether it is necessary or even possible to determine at this point whether future types of AI technologies may fall within the TCPA’s existing prohibitions on artificial or prerecorded voice messages,” the agency said.
Finally, the FCC said the notice, if approved, would also ask for comment on “whether the Commission should consider ways to verify the authenticity of legitimately generated AI voice or text content from trusted sources, such as through the use of watermarks, certificates, labels, signatures or other forms of labels when callers rely on AI technology to generate content such as emulating a human voice on a robocall or creating content in a text message.”
