(NEWSnet) - The Federal Communications Commission is taking administrative steps to make illegal certain robocalls that use voice cloning by artificial intelligence.

FCC chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel’s announcement, issued Wednesday, said the proposal would provide state attorneys general with the means to pursue investigations in such robocalls under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

More than half the nation's AGs supported such a step.

“Scammers are increasingly using AI technology to impersonate human voices via robocalls. We’re taking steps to protect consumers against these scams,” the FCC said in a social media post.

The Telephone Consumer Protection Act is the law that the FCC alredy uses to help limit “junk calls,” such as telemarketing with automatic dialing systems and prerecorded voice message. Telemarketers are currently required to get written consent from individuals before calling them.

The new ruling, if enacted, would add AI-generated voice calls to the list of regulated activity.

The FCC’s effort on AI-generated calls began in November, with a Notice of Inquiry seeking information on how AI voicing that appears to be familiar voices might be used in scam calls.

On a related detail, the FCC's Robocall Response Team announced this week that its coordinated effort with the Federal Trade Commission against international robocalls "appear to have reduced apparently illegal robocall traffic across multiple networks."

The two agencies had each sent letters to specific providers, warning them of the consequences of allowing such activity.

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