UK: Risk Of Company And Information Domination Loss In The Artificial Intelligence Industry

Competition and Markets Authority/CMA, said there was a "real risk" artificial intelligence (AI) industry could be detrimental. (photo: dock. cma)

UK Competition authorities, Competition and Markets Commission (CMA), said there was a "real risk" that the artificial intelligence (AI) industry could develop in a way that resulted in few companies dominating the market. This will result in consumers being exposed to harmful information.

In a report published on September 18, CMA investigated the basic AI model, concluding that although AI can change the way people live and work, "These changes can occur quickly and have a significant impact on competition and consumers."

This competition watchdog warns that in the short term, if weak competition or developers fail to comply with consumer protection laws, consumers could be exposed to significant levels of false information or frauds made possible by AI.

In the long term, it is possible that some companies could get or solidify market power positions, which could cause them not to offer their best products or services, or impose high prices, the CMA said.

"It's very important that these results don't appear," said CMA CEO Sarah Cardell. "There is still a real risk that AI's use is developing in a way that undermines consumer confidence or is controlled by several players who have a market power that prevents full benefits from being felt throughout the economy."

To overcome this, the supervisor proposed several "leading principles" to ensure "consumer protection and healthy competition while enabling full economic benefits."

This guiding principle seems to focus on increasing access and transparency, especially in preventing companies from benefiting by using AI models.

Britain's competition watchdog said it would publish updates on these principles and their implementation in early 2024, along with further insight into the AI ecosystem. They have also communicated with AI developers and businesses that have implemented the technology.

This is not the first time the UK has warned of rapid advances in AI. In June, Britain's prime minister's AI adviser, Matt Clifford, said that this technology would require regulation and control in the next two years to address the main risks that exist.

Also in June, Japan's privacy protection agency warned parent company ChatGPT, OpenAI, about their data collection methods.