Artificial Intelligence, Advertising, and Disinformation

The following article is Professor Sonia Katyal's keynote address for Advertising & Society Quarterly's third annual colloquium held at Duke University in October 2019. In this talk, Katyal explores the conflict between the protection of civil rights and the use of artificial intelligence. In particular, she covers the intersection between commercial and political expression in an age of deep fakes, disinformation, and artificial intelligence. The talk first discusses the links between artificial intelligence, advertising, and disinformation. It then moves to the roots of commercial and political disinformation in artificial intelligence. Throughout her discussion, Katyal draws from prominent court cases as well as notable examples from the news. In the end, Katyal calls for deep thinking about how various forms of discrimination, disinformation, and injustice caused by artificial intelligence might be addressed by public and private entities for the future of a well-functioning democracy and marketplace.