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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has initiated an official investigation into OpenAI, the maker of the AI chatbot ChatGPT, to assess the potential risks associated with artificially intelligent chatbots. The probe includes examining whether the AI chatbot has created false information about individuals and whether OpenAI has engaged in unfair or deceptive practices regarding privacy and data security. The increasing scrutiny of generative AI products by regulators worldwide is due to concerns over the enormous amount of personal data consumed by this technology, as well as its potential to generate harmful outputs such as misinformation and discriminatory comments.
In May, the FTC emphasized its focus on the use of AI technology, including generative AI tools, and their impact on consumers. In a letter sent to OpenAI, the regulator requested internal information regarding user data usage, as well as the steps taken by the company to address the risk of the AI model producing false or misleading statements. The FTC and OpenAI declined to comment on the investigation.
During a hearing, FTC chair Lina Khan identified concerns related to ChatGPT and other AI services, suggesting that these systems are being fed a vast amount of data without effective checks on the type of data being utilized. Khan highlighted the emergence of sensitive information, defamation, and fraudulent claims as issues that the regulator is worried about. The concentration of data within language models like ChatGPT has raised concerns among experts. OpenAI, within two months of its launch, had over 100 million monthly active users, while Microsoft’s Bing search engine, powered by OpenAI technology, garnered over 1 million users within two weeks of its release in January.
Users have reported instances where ChatGPT fabricates names, dates, facts, and even generates fake links to news websites and academic papers. This phenomenon, known as “hallucinations,” has become a common industry concern.
The FTC’s investigation delves into technical aspects of ChatGPT’s design, including OpenAI’s efforts to address hallucinations and the oversight of its human reviewers, both of which directly affect consumers. The regulator has also requested information on consumer complaints and OpenAI’s initiatives to assess consumers’ understanding of the chatbot’s accuracy and reliability.
In March, Italy’s privacy watchdog temporarily banned ChatGPT due to concerns over the US company’s handling of personal information following a cybersecurity breach. The ban was lifted after OpenAI improved its privacy policy and implemented age verification measures.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has acknowledged the limitations of ChatGPT and cautioned against relying on it for important tasks, asserting that more work is needed to enhance its robustness and truthfulness.
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