FTC Reaches Settlement Over Generative AI Detection Claims

The Federal Trade Commission just announced that it reached a settlement with Workado, LLC, resolving allegations that the company misled consumers about how effective its “AI Content Detector” product is at detecting whether content was produced with the help of generative AI. 

In announcing the settlement, FTC Bureau of Consumer Protection Director Chris Mufarrige said, “Consumers trusted Workado's AI Content Detector to help them decipher whether AI was behind a piece of writing, but the product did no better than a coin toss.  Misleading claims about AI undermine competition by making it harder for legitimate providers of AI-related products to reach consumers.” 

The FTC alleged that Workado marketed its AI Content Detector product as being “98% accurate” in detecting whether text was written by AI or by a human.  The FTC alleged, however, that independent testing showed that the accuracy rate on general-purpose content was only 53%.

As part of the settlement, Workado agreed to not make AI-detection claims without having competent and reliable evidence to back up those claims.  Workado is also required to notify its customers that it reached a settlement with the FTC over “false or unsubstantiated advertising claims about the accuracy of our AI Content Detector.”  The settlement is still subject to approval by the Commission after a public comment period.