- Consumer Information Center

The Consumer in the Era of New Technologies. Artificial Intelligence – Benefits and Threats

Yesterday, a conference dedicated to the role of artificial intelligence in the contemporary life of the consumer was held at the University of Applied Sciences in Elbląg (Akademia Nauk Stosowanych w Elblągu). The event brought together representatives of public administration, consumer organizations, academia, students, and pupils from Elbląg secondary schools.

The conference was organized by the University of Applied Sciences in Elbląg and the Municipal Consumer Ombudsman in Elbląg. The event was opened by Krzysztof Sidorkiewicz, Director of the Institute of Economics at the ANS in Elbląg, and Paweł Rodziewicz.

Presentations were given by:

·        Milena Górecka - Head of the Consumer Policy Department at UKE (Office of Electronic Communications),

·        Krzysztof Lehmann - Deputy Director of the Delegation of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) in Bydgoszcz,

·        Weronika Wójcik - Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Gdańsk, President of the SmartSQL Foundation,

·        Jakub Borowski - Financial Ombudsman's Field Representative in Olsztyn.

The goal of the event was to familiarize attendees with the latest trends in the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in everyday life, work, and business, as well as to discuss the challenges new technologies pose for consumers, consumer protection institutions, and entrepreneurs.

During the conference, it was emphasized that the development of artificial intelligence brings huge opportunities—from streamlining customer service processes and personalizing services, to improving the security of online transactions. However, AI is simultaneously a tool used for manipulation, disinformation, and data theft.

Experts pointed out that the modern consumer operates in a reality where the boundary between human-created content and algorithm-generated content is becoming increasingly blurred. In the world of social media and digital advertising, AI is now responsible not only for automating activities but also for analyzing user behavior and predicting their purchasing decisions.

Milena Górecka, Head of the UKE Consumer Policy Department, spoke about the use of artificial intelligence in marketing, advertising, and cyber-scams. She discussed, among other things, the phenomenon of advertising targeting. Learning systems analyze thousands of data points about users—their location, search history, interests, or emotions expressed on social media—to tailor advertising messages to a specific person. As Milena Górecka stressed, message personalization can be beneficial if it helps consumers find the products they need faster, but it becomes dangerous when it leads to the manipulation of purchasing decisions or violates user privacy.

Her presentation also covered the growing role of AI in influencer marketing. In the age of artificially generated faces and voices, companies are increasingly replacing "human influencers" with those generated by AI. So-called "virtual influencers" are gaining popularity on social media, promoting products and services, even though there is no real person behind their image. As the speaker noted, this new phenomenon raises questions about the transparency of advertising messages and responsibility for content published online.

The topic of deepfakes was also addressed—realistic, yet completely false, images and video recordings generated by artificial intelligence. A deepfake can depict a person who never spoke the given words or participated in a specific event. This type of material is increasingly used not only in entertainment but also in financial fraud and disinformation campaigns.

In the context of consumer safety, she also raised the issue of AI-supported phishing. Thanks to the use of advanced language models, scammers today can create email messages or recordings that deceptively resemble authentic communication from a bank, an office, or a courier company. As the UKE representative warned, this new face of cybercrime requires consumers to be increasingly vigilant and to develop their digital competence.