South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission said Wednesday that advertisements using artificial intelligence-generated personas, such as fictional doctors promoting medical products, must clearly disclose to consumers that the figures are not real.
The FTC said it will open a public consultation on proposed revisions to its advertising guidelines through April 28. The updated rules will explicitly include “virtual characters created by AI” in guidelines for product endorsements.
The move comes in response to a growing number of advertisements featuring realistic, AI-generated figures such as doctors. Some worry this can mislead consumers, who may believe actual experts or qualified professionals are endorsing a product’s safety or effectiveness.
Current guidelines require endorsers — such as consumers, celebrities, organizations or institutions — to be identified in advertisements, but there are no provisions covering AI-generated characters.
Under the proposed changes, such ads will be required to include clear disclosures such as “fictional character included” or “This content includes a fictional character created with AI,” displayed prominently within the advertisement. For video ads, the disclosure must remain visible for the entire duration that the AI-generated character appears on screen.
The FTC said it will gather feedback from industry participants and relevant agencies during the consultation period before finalizing and implementing the revised guidelines.
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com
