When the person recommending a product doesn´t exist: AI, advertising, and consumer trust

Leonor Gambôa Machado, associate in the Technology, Innovation, and Regulatory practice at MFA Legal & Tech and researcher at NOVA Consumer Lab, co-authored a new article published on the NOVA Consumer Blog alongside Lucas Battistello Espindola, addressing the legal challenges associated with using AI-generated characters in advertising.

Starting from the case of Fang Taozi, an AI-generated "actress" used to promote contact lenses, the article analyses an increasingly relevant question: to what extent can an artificial character report a user experience that, by definition, it could never have had?

The reflection covers different layers of the problem, including:

• The transparency obligations set out in the AI Act for content generated or manipulated by AI;

• The application of traditional advertising law rules and unfair commercial practices;

• The distinction between informing that content is artificial and ensuring the truthfulness of the statements conveyed to the consumer.

Labeling content as "AI-generated" may clarify its origin, but it does not transform a simulated experience into a real one, nor does it remove the need to substantiate the characteristics and qualities attributed to the product.

In a context where artificial intelligence is increasingly changing how brands communicate, the challenge also lies in understanding how to preserve consumer trust when the person, the experience, and even the recommendation itself can be artificially constructed.

Read the full article below.