The Federal Communications Commission has unanimously adopted a Declaratory Ruling that prohibits the use of AI-generated voices in robocalls targeting consumers.
Specifically, the FCC found that the Telephone Consumer Protection Act's (TCPA) "restrictions on the use of 'artificial or prerecorded voice' encompass current AI technologies that resemble human voices and/or generate call content using a prerecorded voice." Therefore, robo-callers "must obtain prior express consent from the called party before making a call that utilizes artificial or prerecorded voice simulated or generated through AI technology." The FCC took this step because "voice cloning can convince a called party that a trusted person, or someone they care about such as a family member, wants or needs them to take some action that they would not otherwise take."
The following requirements apply to any AI technology that initiates any outbound telephone call using an artificial or prerecorded voice to consumers:
- Callers that use such technologies must obtain the prior express consent of the called party to initiate such calls absent an emergency purpose or exemption;
- All artificial or prerecorded voice messages must provide certain identification and disclosure information for the entity responsible for initiating the call; and
- Where the artificial or prerecorded voice message includes or introduces an advertisement or constitutes telemarketing, it must offer opt-out methods for the called party to make a request to stop calling that telephone number.
Chairwoman Rosenworcel noted that this ruling will allow state attorneys general to prosecute callers who violate this rule and seek damages.
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