FCC highlights consumer concerns over AI

TANZANIA: THE Fair Competition Commission (FCC) has raised concerns about consumer apprehensions regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in service delivery both locally and globally.

The concerns were highlighted by FCC Director General, William Erio during the continuation of a postponed conference on March 15.

The conference themed “Fair and Responsible Artificial Intelligence for Consumers,” brought together various stakeholders, including the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI), Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA), Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT), University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) and Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (EWURA). Other participants included representatives from Precision Air, NMB, Tanganyika Law Society (TLS), Tanzania Consumer Information Association (TCIA), legal firms and Vodacom.

Mr Erio stated that the conference aimed to broadly discuss the impacts and benefits of AI for consumers, seeking optimal regulatory measures to protect both consumers and producers.

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He revealed that the FCC has received a complaint from an online service provider about unauthorised individuals using their brand. The FCC has confirmed that the products sold under this brand online are counterfeit, violating consumer rights.

“The owners of the Google Boss brand, which is famous for selling shirts, perfumes and related products, have complained that somebody is using their brand on Google to sell online products, and those products are counterfeit,” explained Mr Erio.

He added that they have gathered the necessary evidence for further investigation.

Mr Erio urged various bodies to seek knowledge and understanding on AI usage and educate their employees to address the challenges posed by the increasing use of AI in service delivery.

“Since the use of AI in service delivery is a rapidly growing concept worldwide, it is crucial for market performance regulatory bodies like FCC, LATRA, TBS and sector regulators to prioritise acquiring appropriate knowledge and providing their employees with learning opportunities to keep up with technological advancements,” urged Mr Erio.

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He encouraged conference participants to use the discussion platform to address the issue of protecting consumer rights and interests in AI-based services. One of the panelists, Dr Paul Kaunda, emphasised the need for consumers to learn soft skills to protect themselves from online fraud.

He highlighted that one of these skills includes verifying if they are interacting with the correct entity online.

“A basic skill for consumers is to check if the website they are using is the intended one. One of the fundamental checks is to look at the URL. If you see ‘https,’ it’s genuine, but if it lacks the ‘s,’ it’s fake,” explained Dr Kaunda.

He stressed the need for improvements or new regulations guiding the FCC to effectively regulate AI and online purchases. “At the FCC level, we should have amendments to the law or introduce new legislation. The FCC needs an AI directorate, an AI safety directorate. We need AI auditors who can investigate these systems,” suggested Dr Kaunda. He also mentioned the importance of partnering with companies that develop AI models to establish data centres in the country using local data.

“We should use the opportunity to partner with companies. One of the raw materials for making these GPUs is silica, lithium and graphite, which we have. They can come here and build data centres using our own data,” Dr Kaunda explained. Dr Kaunda emphasised on the need to incorporate Kiswahili language into AI models. “All models interact in English. Our Kenyan counterparts have seen the opportunity to include Kiswahili in these models. I don’t think Kenyan Kiswahili is better than ours, nor do I think they have better data,” he stated.

FCC Chairman, Dr Aggrey Mlimuka stated that the government, through its relevant authorities, should establish regulatory frameworks that require service providers using technological systems to transparently disclose potential challenges consumers may face when using such technologies.

He emphasised that it is the right time for market regulatory authorities, including the FCC and other technology regulatory bodies, to convene and discuss in order to come up with recommendations for effectively overseeing this area.