FTC’s 2023 Warnings About AI-Based Ad Claims
Chip Cooper
eCommerce Attorney. I help marketers, advertisers & agencies solve their FTC earnings claim compliance problem for a fixed, flat fee. Get new strategies by downloading my Earnings Claim Guide and newsletter (Link Below)
In 2023, The FTC Issued Warnings About Creating Unearned Consumer Trust with AI, To Power Ad Claims and FTC Earnings Claims.
“The Luring Test: AI and the Engineering of Consumer Trust”
In 2023, the FTC warned marketers, advertisers, and agencies regarding the FTC’s concerns about the use of AI to deceptively “influence people’s beliefs, emotions, and behavior.”
FTC: “If we haven’t made it obvious yet, FTC staff is focusing intensely on how companies may choose to use AI technology, including new generative AI tools, in ways that can have actual and substantial impact on consumers.”
FTC targets: deceptive ad claims and FTC earnings claims, including more subtle ways to influence consumers’ buying decisions with AI.
Example: FTC Chatbot Concerns
? ??*??Chatbots “designed to provide information, advice, support, and companionship.”
? ??*? Consumers may “think that they’re conversing with something that understands them and is on their side.
Two Examples: FTC Ad Claim and Earnings Claim Concerns
? ??*??Ad claims that are AI-enabled for purposes of “tapping into unearned human trust.”
??? *? “Customizing ads for specific people or groups that may steer consumers into harmful decisions.”
领英推荐
FTC: “Fundamental” Consumer Rights That Should Not Be Compromised with AI
? ??*??The right to know they’re being advertised to: “it should always be clear that an ad is an ad.”
? ??*??The right to know whether search results or any generative output is “organic… or is paid.”
? ??*? The right to know if an AI product’s response is “steering them to a particular website, service provider, or product because of a commercial relationship.”
? ??*??The right to know whether they are “communicating with a real person or a machine.”
Conclusion
The FTC made it clear in its 2023 warnings that they will be monitoring AI-enabled attempts to deceptively engineer consumer trust.
Specific targets, both directly and indirectly, include ad claims and FTC earnings claims.
For Informational purposes only; not legal advice