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The Federal Communications Commission has outlawed robocalls that use voices generated by artificial intelligence, putting businesses that have used AI voices for telemarketing services at legal risk.
While AI-generated voices are relatively new, companies have been offering telemarketing services that use AI agents to make cold sales calls and generate leads, some with the explicit goal of fully replacing human-powered call centers. FCC commissioner Anna Gomez announced the decision in a statement, writing that Americans are prohibited from using "artificial or prerecorded" voices to make robocalls and robotexts, at least without the prior express consent of the receiving party.
In January of 2024, several New Hampshire voters reported that they had received a call from an AI-generated vocal clone of President Joe Biden that told them not to vote in the then-upcoming primary election. In response, FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel released a proposal to make such calls illegal under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA).
The FCC says that businesses using automated voices for telemarketing services "must also offer specified opt-out methods for the called party to make a request to stop calling that telephone number." The ruling also makes clear that the TCPA "does not allow for any carve out of technologies that purport to provide the equivalent of a live agent, thus preventing unscrupulous businesses from attempting to exploit any perceived ambiguity in our TCPA rules."
Aaron Tifft, a lawyer at Tulsa-based law firm Hall Estill, says the language in the ruling is vague enough that it's not entirely clear if businesses are also prohibited from sending AI-generated text messages in addition to calls, and that uncertainty could open up businesses to even more liability. Unless a business has received express prior written consent, Tifft says they should "absolutely stop AI-generated cold texts and cold phone calls, because the plaintiffs bar will absolutely have a field day with this ruling and apply it in punitive class actions against businesses. I'm sure I'm going to have clients get sued because of this."
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FCC Outlaws AI-Generated Voices From Telemarketing Calls
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09.02.2024
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The Federal Communications Commission has outlawed robocalls that use voices generated by artificial intelligence, putting businesses that have used AI voices for telemarketing services at........
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