FTC Floats AI Policy Aiming To Ensure That AI Makers Disclose The Truth About Biases In Their LLMs - Forbes

The Federal Trade Commission — a body whose teeth have historically been about as effective as a chocolate fireguard — has 'floated' an AI policy proposal. Apparently, the FTC wants AI makers to 'disclose the truth about biases' in their large language models. Because clearly, the problem with black-box systems that nobody, including their creators, fully understands is simply a lack of honest labelling. Next, they'll ask the cat to explain why it knocked the vase off the shelf.

The proposal, justified under the FTC Act's consumer protection mandate, would require companies to reveal biases that lead to 'less-than-truthful outputs'. This is a delightfully American approach: if the neural network is spouting nonsense or bigotry, just slap a warning label on it. Never mind that the very notion of 'disclosing the truth' about an emergent statistical parrot is philosophically suspect — the FTC is acting like a teenager asking their dealer to list the side effects before buying. The industry will, of course, comply in the most minimalist way possible: a footnote buried in a 40-page EULA, written in legalese that makes Ulysses look like a picture book.

And what happens if they don't? The FTC can theoretically sue, but by the time the case winds through courts (years, if precedent holds), the models in question will be ancient history. This is performative regulation at its finest: a press release designed to look like action, while the actual frontier labs continue to play with matches in a petrol station. Still, one must admire the chutzpah: asking the people who can't explain their own models to explain their biases. That's not policy; it's performance art with a government letterhead.