The Federal Communications Commission voted unanimously at its Aug. 7 meeting to move forward with a proposed rulemaking that would protect consumers against receiving unwanted robocalls whose content is generated by artificial intelligence technologies.
That next step in the FCC’s path toward adoption of those rules is coming in the form of a notice of proposed rulemaking that will seek public comment on several key issues including:
- How to define AI-generated calls;
- Requiring callers to disclose their use of AI technology in calls and text messages;
- Supporting technologies that alert and protect consumers from unwanted and illegal AI robocalls; and
- Protecting “positive uses” of AI to help people with disabilities use the telephone networks.
The notice of proposed rulemaking “proposes to define AI-generated calls and to require callers when obtaining prior express consent to disclose that the caller intends to use AI generated calls and text messages,” the FCC said. “In addition, callers would need to disclose to consumers on each call when they receive an AI-generated call.”
A 30-day comment period on the notice of proposed rulemaking will kick off once the FCC publishes the notice in the Federal Register.
Some of the issues defined in the proposed rulemaking will also be addressed in a separate but related notice of inquiry in which the FCC will also seek comment on developing technologies that can alert consumers to AI-generated unwanted and illegal calls and texts.
Setting the stage for the FCC’s Aug. 7 vote on the AI robocall notice of proposed rulemaking was the agency’s launch in November 2023 of a notice of inquiry into the impact of AI technologies on illegal and unwanted robocalls and robotexts – an area in which the FCC has a long regulatory history.
“Artificial Intelligence has become powerful enough to mimic human voices and create life-like images,” said FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel on Aug. 7. “Facing a rising tide of disinformation, roughly three-quarters of Americans say they are concerned about misleading AI-generated content. That is why the Federal Communications Commission has focused its work on AI by grounding it in a key principle of democracy – transparency.”
“Today we propose rules that would take another step towards transparency,” she said of the proposed rulemaking. “It is also important to wrestle this technology for good. So today we also ask how people with speech or hearing disabilities might use AI-voice technologies,” she said.
“And we continue to ask questions about how we can harness the benefits of AI to detect scams on our networks before they ever reach us on our phones,” the chairwoman said. “We have more work to do. But I am an optimist and I believe all of this is possible. I also believe this kind of transparency is what we need to build a digital future that works for everyone.”
