The Committee on Advertising Practice has issued guidance on using AI as a marketing term. It points out that AI has become a prominent topic in the media and has become more widely available to the public (including businesses). Therefore, CAP says that it is important that marketers do not mislead about what AI products are and what they can do. The guidance makes the following points:
- Marketers should not claim AI capability if it does not exist. Using an AI tool in the development process is not the same as a product having AI in it.
- Marketers should be clear about exactly what features AI delivers in a product and why it benefits the consumer, and ensure that they hold substantiation for performance claims. Marketers should not be tempted to make claims that go beyond the limits of what any AI or automated technology can currently achieve. If claims apply only to certain types of users or in certain circumstances, the ad is likely to mislead if those constraints are not made sufficiently clear.
- Advertisers often claim that a new technology gives their product an edge over products that do not use the technology. These types of comparative claims also require adequate evidence to support them. If such evidence is not possible to obtain, advertisers would be best advised not to make the claim.
- Marketers are responsible for ensuring marketing complies with the Advertising Codes. If a product fails or does not work as promised, they cannot blame a third-party developer for misleading efficacy claims that may result, or claim they are not responsible because they do not understand the technology or don’t know how to test it.
- Marketers should also bear in mind that other regulators may impose other requirements on the use of the term AI.
CAP has produced separate advice on the use of AI to generate advertising content, in which it points out that how an ad was created might be relevant to whether it complies with the rules. It has also produced guidance on using deepfakes. That guidance says that ads may use deepfake technology to employ manipulated video, imagery or audio for marketing purposes, and will have the relevant existing sections of the advertising codes applied to them. Such ads will need to, for example, comply with the rules around misleading advertising, especially the rules concerning testimonials and endorsements.
While there has been talk of an AI regulation Bill being introduced by the UK government, there was no specific Bill in the King’s Speech. This may be introduced in a future legislative period.
