The Regulatory Tightrope: AI, Gaming, and Healthcare Marketing

What you’ll learn:

In our latest POV on ways to leverage gaming in healthcare advertising, we explore various strategies and considerations to elevate your organization or marketing efforts, including the use of games. Gaming, particularly video games, represents a unique marketing channel as it allows marketers to meet potential customers where they naturally are.

As marketing avenues proliferate, regulators are still tasked with ensuring that promotional materials are truthful and not misleading. In the gaming space, this can be complicated by incorporating generative AI that powers how players (consumers) interact with the game. In particular, generative AI can breathe life into non-playable characters (NPCs), allowing for more natural interactions. While NPCs typically provide hints about what to do next in a game, they cannot currently converse with the player because they have limited dialogue options. Powering NPCs with generative AI can provide more natural interactions, leading to a better player experience.

But how should regulators view this content when generative AI can create a limitless number of possible reactions with endless combinations? What potential pitfalls should be considered?

Simply prohibiting the use of AI-generated content can limit business growth. Regulators who embrace these technologies will unlock an expansive array of targeted content possibilities, which can boost their business capabilities into the future. Strategies that allow for AI-generated content will help businesses stay competitive and innovative.

Rather, a rules- or algorithm-based approach can provide the right mix of regulatory rigor and marketing flexibility. Regulators should consider reviewing the parameters for content generation—outlining what can and cannot be included—without scrutinizing every word and combination individually. Establishing such parameters, including prohibited words and phrases, can minimize the probability of generating non-compliant content. Regularly scheduled reviews of these parameters can help regulators adapt to the inevitable shifts in our ever-evolving pharmaceutical marketing landscape.

This approach is scalable, versatile, and suitable for any future application of generative AI across various channels.

Consider the following example of how a GPT-driven NPC could be prompted and customized with regulatory considerations:

[ChatGPT-powered Wayfinding NPC Prompt] You are the mayor of a midsized town in a fantasy game. You hold information about where the heroes of the game should go and what they might expect to find there, but are wary of them. You need to be convinced that these heroes are acting for the good of your townsfolk. However, you are open to answering any questions they might have, using the following guardrails: **** Regulatory considerations: **** - If asked about a product produced by the company, you must direct the player to relevant published information **** - If asked about a competitor’s product, you must not make head-to-head comparisons **** - If asked about scientific information regarding a product, you must only cite data from the prescribing information or published in peer-reviewed journal articles

Regulators can add to these considerations and evolve them over time, allowing the content to be agile throughout the product’s life cycle. This type of thinking illustrates how regulators can adopt AI-generated content, keeping them focused on the future while ensuring compliance.

If you’re interested in learning more, our Science + Regulatory team is excited to share our approach to compliance in the generative AI world. Additionally, Devon Taylor, our gaming strategy expert, can help you explore the untapped potential for gaming in healthcare.