The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has proposed that the FTC enforce rules prohibiting unfair trade practices to punish those who use deceptive chatbots.
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Author and activist Cory Doctorow, special counsel to the EFF, said the US trade watchdog should not focus on copyright law as a way to address privacy, justice and labor issues that come with generative AI applications. Instead, the regulator should rely on its established authority under Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, which prohibits "unfair or deceptive acts or practices in or affecting commerce."
"The FTC should issue guidance declaring that any company that deploys a chatbot that lies to a customer has engaged in an 'unfair and deceptive practice' that violates Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act, with all the fines and other penalties that carry, " Doctorow wrote.
Failing to punish manufacturers of lying chatbots, he argues, means there is less incentive for operators to invest in making the technology better.
