The TCPA has always prohibited initiating a telephone call using an “artificial or prerecorded voice” without prior express written consent (PEWC) unless the call is made for “emergency purposes.” Today the FCC clarified through its Declaratory Ruling that an artificial or prerecorded voice includes an artificial intelligence voice.
For compliance purposes, most companies are already treating AI calls the same as a prerecorded message, so the Ruling will have little impact on their business. For those that have not, the practical effect is that all call campaigns using AI to place telemarketing calls must have PEWC before initiating the call. Informational calls to cell phones require prior express consent.
More information on Consent to Call under the TCPA can be found in our TCPA Requirements FAQ article.
Michele is the Managing Partner at M&S and former Chief of the Ohio Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Section. Bringing more than two decades of experience in the consumer protection arena, she advises highly regulated businesses on a wide range of telemarketing, privacy, and other consumer protection matters.