MA AG Campbell Issues Advisory Providing Guidance On How State Consumer Protection And Other Laws Apply To Artificial Intelligence

On Tuesday April 17th, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell provided an update regarding how current state consumer protection laws apply to artificial intelligence. While your credit union may not be headquartered in Massachusetts, if you serve members in Massachusetts, this will apply to practices and procedures.

 The advisory presents current consumer protections and outlines how they apply to AI use such as:

• Falsely advertising the quality, value, or usability of AI systems.
• Supplying an AI system that is defective, unusable, or impractical for the purpose advertised.
• Misrepresenting the reliability, manner of performance, safety, or condition of an AI system.
• Offering for sale or use an AI system in breach of warranty, in that the system is not fit for the ordinary purposes for which such systems are used, or that is unfit for the specific purpose for which it is sold where the supplier knows of such purpose.
• Misrepresenting audio or video content of a person for the purpose of deceiving another to engage in a business transaction or supply personal information as if to a trusted business partner as in the case of deepfakes, voice cloning, or chatbots used to engage in fraud.
• Failing to comply with Massachusetts statutes, rules, regulations or laws, meant for the protection of the public’s health, safety or welfare

Additionally, the advisory clarifies that the Commonwealth’s anti-discrimination laws prohibit AI developers, suppliers, and users from using technology that discriminates against individuals based on a legally protected characteristic, such as technology that relies on discriminatory inputs and/or produces discriminatory results that would violate the state’s civil rights laws. The advisory also clarifies that AI developers, suppliers, and users must take appropriate steps to safeguard personal data utilized by AI systems and comply with the state’s data breach notification requirements, both in accordance with applicable laws and regulations.

 Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions about how this advisory impacts your credit union.