On February 8, 2024, the FCC issued a Declaratory Ruling “confirm[ing] that the TCPA’s restrictions on the use of ‘artificial or prerecorded voice’ encompass current AI technologies that generate human voices.” The item is effective upon release.
The FCC concluded that voice cloning and other similar AI technologies fall under the TCPA’s restrictions on artificial or prerecorded voice messages. The FCC notes that, though certain AI technologies are capable of wholly simulating an artificial voice, or resemble the voice of a real person to make it appear as though that person is speaking on the call, they are still “artificial” voice messages because a person is not speaking them. Accordingly, the FCC confirms that for any AI technology that initiates any outbound telephone call using an artificial or prerecorded voice:
- Callers must obtain prior express consent from the called party, absent an emergency purpose or exemption;
- Such calls must contain the required identification and disclosure information for the entity responsible for initiating the call; and
- For calls that include or introduce an advertisement or constitute telemarketing, the call must also offer specified opt-out methods for the called party to make a request to stop calling that telephone number.
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