California legislators are addressing concerns about AI-driven pricing strategies that unfairly target consumers based on personal data. This issue has recently gained traction, with legislators proposing five bills aimed at regulating algorithms used by various companies, including ride-sharing and retail. Critics argue these algorithms manipulate prices based on users' behavior and characteristics rather than market demand. The proposed legislation seeks to empower the attorney general to take legal action against companies abusing such technologies, addressing the rising grievances regarding pricing fairness in a digitally-driven economy.
In one recent instance he found that Lyft charged his wife $5 more than him for the same ride. Kloczko works at Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group that cosponsored one of the bills.
They're literally trying to hack your brain. They're trying to read your mind and what you want. I think this is happening all the time, it's just really hard to catch.
The pricing isn't based on supply or demand. It's based on predictions made about your eagerness and desires, said researcher Justin Kloczko.
One bill introduced by Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry, a Democrat representing Davis, would make it easier for the California attorney general to pursue lawsuits against companies that use a pricing algorithm trained on nonpublic competitor data.
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