US FTC leaders will target AI that violates civil rights or is deceptive

The sudden popularity of Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT this year has prompted calls for regulation amid concerns around the world about the possible use of the innovation for wrongdoing even as companies are seeking ways to use it to enhance efficiency.

In a congressional hearing, FTC Chair Lina Khan and Commissioners Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya were asked about concerns that recent innovation in artificial intelligence, which can be used to produce high quality deep fakes, could be used to make more effective scams or otherwise violate laws.

Bedoya said companies using algorithms or artificial intelligence were not allowed to violate civil rights laws or break rules against unfair and deceptive acts.

“It’s not okay to say that your algorithm is a black box” and you can’t explain it, he said.

Khan agreed the newest versions of AI could be used to turbocharge fraud and scams and any wrongdoing would “should put them on the hook for FTC action.”

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Slaughter noted that the agency had throughout its 100-year history had to adapt to changing technologies and indicated that adapting to ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools were no different. The commission is organised to have five members but currently has three, all of whom are Democrats.

Italy may reverse ChatGPT ban

Italy’s data protection watchdog is ready to reactivate the ChatGPT chatbot on April 30 if its maker OpenAI takes “useful steps” to address the agency’s concerns, its chief Pasquale Stanzione said in an interview on Tuesday.

Microsoft Corp-backed OpenAI took ChatGPT offline in Italy in late March after the authority temporarily restricted its personal data processing and began a probe into a suspected breach of privacy rules.

“We are ready to reopen ChatGPT on April 30 if there is a willingness on the part of OpenAI to take useful steps. I think there is on the part of the company, let’s see”, Stanzione told Corriere della Sera newspaper.