Combatting Online Harms Through Innovation | Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Report to Congress

Excerpt:  “The deployment of AI tools intended to detect or otherwise address harmful online content is accelerating. Largely within the confines — or via funding from — the few big technology companies that have the necessary resources and infrastructure, AI tools are being conceived, developed, and used for purposes including combat against many of the harms listed by Congress. Given the amount of online content at issue, this result appears to be inevitable, as a strictly human alternative is impossible or extremely costly at scale. Nonetheless, it is crucial to understand that these tools remain largely rudimentary, have substantial limitations, and may never be appropriate in some cases as an alternative to human judgment. Their use — both now and in the future — raises a host of persistent legal and policy concerns. The key conclusion of this report is thus that governments, platforms, and others must exercise great caution in either mandating the use of, or over-relying on, these tools even for the important purpose of reducing harms.”