In its latest move addressing artificial intelligence (AI), the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) to regulate robocalls made using AI. This NPRM follows the agency’s Notice of Inquiry released last November, seeking information and input from communications-focused industries on how the FCC should respond to the rapid proliferation of AI technologies.
In the NPRM, the FCC formally proposed to define AI-generated calls, asking for feedback on the NPRM.
The agency defined an “AI-generated call” as “a call that uses any technology or tool to generate an artificial or prerecorded voice or text using computational technology or other machine learning, including predictive algorithms, and large language models, to process natural language and produce voice or text content to communicate with a called party over an outbound telephone call.” Notably, the FCC proposed that the “AI-generated call” definition should not apply to inbound calls, reasoning that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA) requirements do not ordinarily extend to technologies used to answer inbound calls.
The FCC also proposes requiring additional disclosure requirements for AI-generated calls and texts.
Specifically, the FCC proposes that callers using AI-generated calls or content include a “clear and conspicuous” disclosure regarding such usage and acquire the consumer’s consent for such calls and texts before transmission. This requirement would apply both to calls and texts requiring prior express consent and to calls and texts requiring prior express written consent under the TCPA. The NPRM also proposes requiring that callers using AI-generated voice clearly disclose to the called party that the call is using AI-generated technology at the beginning of each call.
Finally, the NPRM proposes exempting from its TCPA rules artificial or prerecorded calls made by individuals with speech or hearing disabilities using AI technologies designed to facilitate communications for such individuals over the phone, so long as the calls are not for marketing or advertising purposes.
The NPRM is open for public comment and the FCC has requested input on all aspects of the proposal, including the definition of AI-generated calls (and how the agency can ensure any definition keeps pace with technological advances); whether the proposed changes to disclosures should apply prospectively only; whether the AI-specific disclosures add value (and if the FCC should prescribe language for the disclosures); whether consumers should be able to opt out of AI-generated calls but still receive non-AI robocalls (and how the agency could effectuate that option); and questions about the implementation of the accessibility exemption.
Comments are due on October 10, 2024 and reply comments are due on or before October 25, 2024.
“The concern about these technology developments is real,” FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement with the release of the NPRM. “But if we focus on transparency and taking swift action when we find fraud, I believe we can look beyond the risks of these technologies and harness the benefits.”
To read the NPRM, click here.
Why it matters
The proposed rules are the latest step in a series of actions by the FCC focused on AI technologies, including enforcement actions involving illegal robocalls made using deepfake, AI-generated voice cloning technology. If the FCC issues an order implementing the proposed rules, businesses using AI-generated content should carefully consider the disclosures they will need to make concerning the use of AI-generated content to consumers.