The sudden popularity of Microsoft-backed OpenAI's ChatGPT
this year has prompted calls for regulation amid concerns around the world
about the possible use of the innovation for wrongdoing even as companies are
seeking ways to use it to enhance efficiency.
In a congressional hearing, FTC Chair Lina Khan and
Commissioners Rebecca Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya were asked about concerns
that recent innovation in artificial intelligence, which can be used to produce
high quality deep fakes, could be used to make more effective scams or
otherwise violate laws.
Bedoya said companies using algorithms or artificial
intelligence were not allowed to violate civil rights laws or break rules
against unfair and deceptive acts.
"It's not okay to say that your algorithm is a black
box" and you can't explain it, he said.
Khan agreed the newest versions of AI could be used to
turbocharge fraud and scams and any wrongdoing would "should put them on
the hook for FTC action."
Slaughter noted that the agency had throughout its 100-year
history had to adapt to changing technologies and indicated that adapting to
ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence tools were no different.
The commission is organised to have five members but
currently has three, all of whom are Democrats.
Italy may reverse ChatGPT ban
Italy's data protection watchdog is ready to reactivate the
ChatGPT chatbot on April 30 if its maker OpenAI takes "useful steps"
to address the agency's concerns, its chief Pasquale Stanzione said in an
interview on Tuesday.
Microsoft Corp-backed OpenAI took ChatGPT offline in Italy
in late March after the authority temporarily restricted its personal data
processing and began a probe into a suspected breach of privacy rules.
"We are ready to reopen ChatGPT on April 30 if there is
a willingness on the part of OpenAI to take useful steps. I think there is on
the part of the company, let's see", Stanzione told Corriere della Sera
newspaper.