#HelloWorld. Much to catch up on from February and the first half of March. In this issue, we cover the latest AI activity from Europe, as well as a bevy of guidance and updates from U.S. agencies. Off to the races. Let’s stay smart together.
Read more on The Artificial Intelligence Blog.
Kelly Bonner and Agatha Liu of Duane Morris LLP shared their insights and experience with CosmeticsDesign on the risks of incorporating AI technology into business practices, and how can beauty companies protect themselves.
While “today’s AI technology can save a fair amount of time in not only performing conventional services, but also uncovering hidden insight into consumer motivation and behavior,” Liu noted, “on the other hand, today’s AI technology generally lacks transparency and suffers from hallucination and thus still requires a considerable amount of human review.” Therefore, she recommended that “while companies are encouraged to incorporate AI technology into their offerings, they should closely monitor how it is utilized and what it produces and make adjustments or take remedial steps as appropriate.” […]
Continue reading “Common Uses for AI in Beauty & Associated Risks”
Generative artificial intelligence remains a hot topic in legal and healthcare circles, but the conversation has shifted from the initial wonder of “What can it do?” to the present cautiousness of “What should it not do?” One reason for this shift came in March 2023, when Google revealed the newest version of its Med-PaLM, a Large Language Model that passed the United States Medical Licensing Examination with an 86.5% accuracy rate. A 2022 version had achieved a 67.2% accuracy rate, also a passing score.
Read the full article by Matthew Mousley on the Wharton Healthcare Quarterly website.
Duane Morris’ Agatha Liu and Kelly Bonner were interviewed by Personal Care Insights about the challenges and opportunities beauty companies face while using AI to appeal to younger consumer demographics. Below is an excerpt of the article.
How does the competitive landscape of the beauty industry impact businesses’ use of AI technologies, especially when it comes to targeting younger consumer segments?
Bonner: The highly competitive nature of the beauty industry, with its desire to appeal to younger consumers, is certainly a key driver in beauty brands embracing AI tools to offer enhanced customer shopping experiences.
Can you provide some context about US AI regulations that the beauty industry should know? What do you expect is coming, especially considering the AI Act in the EU?
Liu: The EU AI Act imposes specific obligations on the providers and deployers of so-called high-risk AI systems, including testing, documentation, transparency and notification duties.
To read the full interview, please visit the Personal Care Insights page.
Duane Morris partner Agatha Liu spoke with Personal Care Insights on potential risks, including personalization, appearance bias and regulatory compliance, as beauty companies integrate AI technologies.
Can you provide examples of legal issues within the beauty industry due to AI, and how they were addressed?
Liu: Yes, recently we’ve seen a number of class action suits against beauty companies alleging that their VTO tools collect users’ biometric facial information without their informed consent, in violation of Illinois’s Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA), which requires that companies that collect certain biometric data first obtain informed consent before collecting the data, inform consumers about use, retention and destruction policies with respect to biometric data, and take steps to protect it.
Read the full interview on the Personal Care Insights website.
Several Democratic senators introduced a bill intended to stop companies from utilizing predictive technology to raise prices. Businesses are increasingly delegating important competitive decisions, including price-setting power, to artificial intelligence, algorithms, and other predictive technology software. Read more on the Duane Morris Artificial Intelligence Blog.
Privacy and data breach class action litigation, as well as artificial intelligence issues, are among the key issues that keep businesses and corporate counsel up at night. There was over $1 billion procured in settlements and jury verdicts over the last year for these types of “bet-the-company” cases. At the ALM Law.com Legalweek 2024 conference in New York City, Duane Morris partner Alex W. Karasik was a panelist at the session “Trends in US Data Privacy Laws and Enforcement.” The conference, which had over 6,000 attendees, produced excellent dialogues on how cutting-edge technologies can potentially lead to class action litigation.
In Mobley v. Workday, Inc., Case No. 23-CV-770 (N.D. Cal. Jan 19, 2024) (ECF No. 45), Judge Rita F. Lin of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California dismissed a lawsuit against Workday involving allegations that algorithm-based applicant screening tools discriminated applicants on the basis of race, age, and disability. With businesses more frequently relying on artificial intelligence to perform recruiting and hiring functions, this ruling is helpful for companies facing algorithm-based discrimination lawsuits in terms of potential strategies to attack such claims at the pleading stage.
Read more on the Duane Morris Class Action Defense Blog.
Recently, it was reported that DOJ has subpoenaed the records of digital health companies and pharmaceutical companies in investigating whether AI may be used to steer treatment decisions, resulting in medically unnecessary anti-kickback and false claims violations.
Read more on the Duane Morris Health Law Blog.
#HelloWorld. January has not been especially frantic on the legal-developments-in-AI front. Yes, we know the anticipated final text of the EU AI Act was published unofficially, but the final vote hasn’t happened yet, so we’re biding time for now. Meanwhile, in this issue, we check in with state bar associations, SAG-AFTRA, and the FTC. They have things to say about AI policy too, so we’ll listen. Let’s stay smart together.
Read more on The Artificial Intelligence Blog.
