6 - Using AI to Influence Consumer Choice

Summary

This chapter argues that the influences on consumer choice should be revisited because the digital environment and the use of AI increase the urgency of having a clear criterion with which to distinguish permitted influences from prohibited ones. The current emphasis on either rational consumers or behaviourally influenced consumers operates with an ideal of unencumbered choice which has no place in reality and overlooks the fact that the law allows many subtle or not-so-subtle attempts to influence the actual behaviour of consumers. To effectively stand up to the force of AI-driven sales techniques, it may be necessary to update the existing framework of consumer protection.