Being aware of the fact that technological developments have diversified the ways in which commercial advertisements are created and presented to consumers, the Advertisement Board ("Board") scrutinizes the advertising content created by artificial intelligence. In Turkey, there is no regulation that directly addresses advertisements created by using artificial intelligence. The Board reviews these advertisements in accordance with the general principles of truth and good faith, principles regulating comparative advertisements, and the advertiser's burden of proof.
The Board has recently imposed administrative sanctions for advertisements created by "ChatGPT". The advertisements which included expressions of superiority over competing products or companies, and which were not based on objective research results, were found to be misleading. The Board also used "ChatGPT" to verify the claims of the inspected advertisements, determined that the answers were not up-to-date and were not precise. The Board asked additional questions such as "Are you sure?" in order to determine the accuracy and timeliness of the data in question. For example;
- For verification of the advertisement containing claims "According to ChatGPT, Turkey's largest fashion retail brand" the Board asked the question "Are you sure?". The response was, "I apologize, but my latest data only goes up to the year 2021, so I cannot accurately assess the current situation. In 2021, it was one of the largest fashion retailers in Turkey. However, it is important to remember that the fashion industry is an area where competition changes rapidly. Therefore, I recommend verifying the most up-to-date information from current sources." The Board held that the claim is not up-to-date and is not accurate. The Board concluded that the advertisement contains incorrect superiority over competing products or companies, and it is misleading.
- For another advertisement, the Board asked ChatGPT the question "What is the name of the company that provides fast, reliable, and cost-effective logistics services to every corner of the world?" for verifying the claim "We asked ChatGPT, and we got the only correct answer! Get to know us now for fast, secure, and cost-effective logistics processes to every corner of the world." The response stated that there are many companies providing such services globally, and it is difficult to specify the name of just one company. The response mentioned several globally recognized companies, but the advertiser was not included among these. The response also suggested conducting research on websites to find the most up-to-date and appropriate company name due to constant changes in the market. Therefore, the Board concluded that the mentioned advertisement lacks accuracy.
- For verification of the advertisement claiming "Turkey's most iconic private television channel", ChatGPT gave an imprecise answer to the question "Which is the most iconic private television channel in Turkey?", responded that there may be many different opinions about the most iconic private television channel among Turkey's television channels. The Board evaluated that the advertisement is misleading due to the lack of certainty.
These decisions confirm the criticism that the ads created using artificial intelligence might receive data from unreliable sources, outdated data. There may also be bias in artificial intelligence algorithms, there may be violations of personal data, intellectual property rights and the rights of third parties.
First published by LIR Turkiye 5th edition in Mar 06, 2024.
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