Consumer Law for AI Agents

TL;DR

This paper examines how EU consumer law might need to adapt to the rise of AI agents, like Custobots, capable of autonomous purchasing and decision-making.

Contribution

It analyzes the impact of AI agents on e-commerce and consumer law, proposing initial ideas for a legal framework accommodating both humans and AI.

Findings

AI agents could significantly alter e-commerce dynamics.

Current consumer law is based on human decision-making assumptions.

Future law should address AI-driven consumer interactions.

Abstract

Since the public release of ChatGPT in November 2022, the AI landscape is undergoing a rapid transformation. Currently, the use of AI chatbots by consumers has largely been limited to image generation or question-answering language models. The next generation of AI systems, AI agents that can plan and execute complex tasks with only limited human involvement, will be capable of a much broader range of actions. In particular, consumers could soon be able to delegate purchasing decisions to AI agents acting as Custobots. Against this background, the Article explores whether EU consumer law, as it currently stands, is ready for the rise of the Custobot Economy. In doing so, the Article makes three contributions. First, it outlines how the advent of AI agents could change the existing e-commerce landscape. Second, it explains how AI agents challenge the premises of a human-centric consumer law which is based on the assumption that consumption decisions are made by humans. Third, the Article presents some initial considerations how a future consumer law could look like that works for both humans and machines.