Schlossberg unveils plan to crack down on 'new frontier' of AI putting the 'squeeze' on consumers: 'Harbinger'
FIRST ON FOX: NEW YORK, N.Y. — As thousands of New York City residents prepare to hit the road to leave town for Memorial Day and summer travel, Democratic House...
By Fox News · Fox News
FIRST ON FOX: NEW YORK, N.Y. — As thousands of New York City residents prepare to hit the road to leave town for Memorial Day and summer travel, Democratic House candidate Jack Schlossberg is calling for an investigation into the way rental car companies, and potentially other industries, are using artificial intelligence. Schlossberg, the only grandson of former President John F. Kennedy, is calling on the Federal Trade Commission to look into reports that Hertz began using AI last year to scan cars for rental damages, prompting warnings that consumers could end up being overcharged. "AI is being used in consumer-facing financial products, and Hertz is using AI to scan for microscopic damage on cars, invisible to the human eye, to charge people with fees for damage that they might not even be aware of, they have no opportunity to dispute, and the FTC should act here to investigate whether or not this constitutes an unfair trade practice," Schlossberg told Fox News Digital outside a midtown Manhattan Hertz location. Schlossberg’s concerns stem in part from a report from The Drive where a Hertz customer at location using the technology said he was notified minutes after dropping off his car that a 1-inch scuff on the driver’s side rear wheel resulted in a $440 charge that included $250 for the repair, $125 for processing, and a $65 administrative fee. FROM CAMELOT TO ‘OUTSIDER’: JFK’S GRANDSON SHAKES UP NYC HOUSE RACE TAKING AIM AT GATEKEEPING DEM 'MACHINE' The report claims the situation for the customer got even worse when he tried to dispute the charges, and the company’s chatbot did not offer a way to reach a live representative, instead routing the issue for review at a later time. Hertz has been partnering with Israel-based Uveye to deploy AI scanning technology at airport locations over the past year and uses cameras and machine learning algorithms to scan returned cars in hopes of improving the "frequency, accuracy, and efficiency" of the process and phase o…