The FTC, soon after declaring the institution of an entire new section targeted on bogus promises in proprietary technology, issued an assertive caution to the overly zealous industry to “be aware of what you are declaring regarding AI.”
I originally said a while back (five years ago to be exact) that the term “AI Powered” is as meaningless as saying “all natural,” but I now realize that it has become much more than a joke. There are many different products claiming to take advantage of artificial intelligence in some form or another, but few provide an explanation of how and why they do it.
The FTC is not fond of the phrase “powered by artificial intelligence” or any permutation thereof. According to the agency, this is simply a marketing slogan and they understand marketers have a tendency to use and exploit potentially captivating phrases.
People are speaking about Artificial Intelligence being able to re-imagine things, but to make these claims as part of an official offering is quite another. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is familiar with overseeing these kinds of misrepresentations, and cautions marketers that these types of representations may be seen as “misleading” or not proved.
If your product utilizes artificial intelligence or your advertising group states that it does, the Federal Trade Commission encourages you to take into account:
- Are you overstating the capabilities of your AI product? If you are making lofty claims, like being able to perceive emotions, maximize productivity, or forecasting activities, these might be worthy of being decreased.
Do you promise your AI product is more efficient than something not using AI? Sure, you can state that “4 out of 5 dentists prefer” your AI powered toothbrush, but make sure to get a confirmation from all of the four. Do not assert you have greater AI capabilities than anyone else unless you have proof. Remember, your lawyers can explain why you should be careful when making such claims, as not attempting to account for all possible consequences or having poorly constructed data sets can lead to bad results. The FTC let it be known that if you cannot understand or fully examine a technology in question, you cannot escape the accountability of leveraging it for your own use. People should question if the product advertised is actually using AI, as was previously stated. I’ve never employed an ML-based program to modify a pattern or any other element, but many people suppose that if there is even a touch of AI, then the item or product is completely AI-powered. However, the Federal Trade Commission disagrees with this perception.
It is not necessary to utilize a machine to forecast what the FTC might do when there is no proof of the statements, which is presented in a threatening manner.
The agency was already responsible for releasing some basic rules regarding AI claims in 2021; the majority of these guidelines were related to determining and forecasting COVID. It has referred inquiries pertaining to this to the aforementioned document which includes both citations and different previous examples.
