EPIC's work has always centered people over technology, and AI is no different. AI tools are products, not human, and we should talk about and regulate them as such. Learn more about EPIC's approach to regulating chatbots in our People-First Chatbot Bill. epic.org/wp-content/u...

Generative AI chatbots are often described as if they can think, feel, or lie. Projecting human-like intentions and abilities onto generative AI tools implies they are responsible and autonomous, drawing attention away from the developers who should be held accountable for creating harmful products.

EPIC: “The Bureau’s proposed rules would obliterate ECOA’s protections against discrimination in consumer lending. Not only are the proposed rules inconsistent with legal precedent and legislative history, but they would also be extremely harmful to consumers, further entrenching economic inequity.”

Read more about surveillance pricing and the related lawsuit here: epic.org/big-techs-ho...

This fits into a pattern of companies attempting to use the First Amendment as a get-out-of-regulations-free card. Companies have claimed that selling someone’s data, using dark patterns to manipulate users, and deploying a chatbot that teaches teens how to kill themselves are all free speech.

NRF’s First Amendment argument is weak, but dangerous. Their argument boils down to, “It violates our free speech rights to require us to be honest with consumers.” But there is no First Amendment right to keep consumers in the dark about facts concerning the prices we pay.

New York responded to this growing practice by passing a law that requires businesses to tell consumers when a price was set using their personal data. But the National Retail Foundation (NRF) has sued to overturn the law, arguing that it violates their First Amendment free speech rights.

Surveillance pricing is when companies crunch a consumer’s personal data to infer the maximum price they are willing to pay for a product and set that price for the consumer. Everyone gets their own price: the maximum they are willing to pay.

In a letter to Congress last week, EPIC joined a coalition led by the National Employment Law Project @nelp.org in endorsing the Empowering App-Based Workers Act, a bill that would create transparency and fairness for workers, and accountability for tech companies. epic.org/epic-joins-c...