The FCC is intensifying its fight against the growing number of phone calls generated through AI.
The latest set of rules would force organizations to disclose to clients the use of AI in both phone calls and text messages. The chairman of the FCC mentioned that more transparency is required to combat the issue.
Also, any individual making use of AI voices needs to disclose this during the call’s start.
Such decisions come after Steve Kramer, a leading democratic consultant, received a $6M fine for impersonating President Biden. This was right before the primary New Hampshire balloting discussions.
On that note, the agency says robocalls are actually against the law and even cited a document from 1991. This was designed to offer citizens protection from automated phone calls that were recorded at an earlier point in time.
Towards the end of June, letters were rolled out to several telecom-providing companies’ heads. They were requested to provide more details about how they were preventing fake robocalls that were spreading misinformation.
The latest set of rules builds up on these instances by forcing more AI disclosures. This means consumers are given more details about who they are talking to and hence can avoid fraud and scam calls.
The latest ruling speaks about the benchmarks of what an AI call is. As per the agency, it’s any call using technology to produce AI voices or texts through computers or machine learning. It also means those making use of predictive algorithms and LLMs for natural language processing. Similarly, any call using text to communicate with another party over outbound phone calls is also documented.
As per the FCC, it wishes to ensure all users remain safe and AI is used to benefit the masses including those with disabilities.
Most American lawmakers agree with the decision as they feel no harms are linked to AI regulation at an earlier point in time.
But some do have other mindsets about the matter. Republican Nathan Simington says that no rules should give rise to active phone call monitoring. That again is debatable.
For now, this latest proposal by the FCC is also putting attention on various scam call detection techniques that are in the making. As per Google, it’s Gemini Nano is the right solution to the problem. It hopes it can run on local devices without any online activity. Meanwhile, the software giant has its Azure Operator Call Protection for telecom operators to benefit from.
Image: DIW-Aigen
Read next: Google Pauses Ad Monetization For Russian Publishers
