The Solution to Alleged AI Bias Will Be Found In the Market

In a new piece for RealClearMarkets, Market Institute President Charles Sauer warns that the Federal Trade Commission’s effort to police alleged ideological bias in artificial intelligence threatens both free speech and the competitive market that is driving AI innovation.

Sauer points to the FTC’s proposed policy statement on AI accuracy, which suggests that developers could run afoul of Section 5 of the FTC Act if they market their systems as objective or unbiased while steering users toward results influenced by ideological considerations.

But giving federal regulators the power to determine what constitutes ideological “bias” creates a much larger problem.

“The government has no more authority to regulate AI for ideological bias than it does to regulate newspapers or web sites for the same reason.”

Sauer argues that Supreme Court precedent strongly supports the First Amendment rights of technology companies to make editorial decisions about the content their products produce. More practically, determining whether an AI response is politically biased can be extraordinarily subjective. The same answer could plausibly be characterized as progressive, libertarian, populist, conservative, or something else entirely depending on the issue.

Attempting to eliminate those distinctions through federal regulation could also force developers to devote resources to satisfying government standards rather than improving their products.

There is also a political danger in creating this authority. Even those who agree with the current FTC’s concerns should consider how the same regulatory powers might be used by a future administration.

“At that point, the FTC’s power to act as the AI bias police will be turned against right-wing sources under the guise of fighting misinformation and hate.”

Rather than empowering Washington to referee the political viewpoints expressed by AI systems, Sauer argues that competition provides the better answer. Consumers who believe an AI product is biased can choose another one, while entrepreneurs have an incentive to build better and more trustworthy alternatives.

As Sauer concludes:

“The solution to any issues users have with AI lies in the real market.”

Read Charles Sauer’s full piece, “The Solution to Alleged AI Bias Will Be Found In the Market,” at RealClearMarkets.