인공지능(AI) 기반 전자상거래에서의 소비자 보호

This study aims to analyze the impact of rapidly advancing Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology on the structure of electronic commerce and to examine legal issues and directions for improvement from the perspective of consumer protection. AI is already extensively utilized throughout the entire process of e-commerce-including product information uploading, search and recommendation, contract execution, delivery, and dispute resolution-and recent technological advancements are accelerating this transformation. While AI serves an innovative role by providing extreme convenience to both consumers and sellers, its inherent technical characteristics, such as “unexplainability” and “error-proneness,” act as significant risk factors. In particular, hyper-personalization generates immense benefits while simultaneously giving rise to new dimensions of risks. This study argues that even in AI-based e-commerce, the various obligations and consumer protection mechanisms under the current Electronic Commerce Act must, in principle, remain applicable, as should the regulations under the recently enacted Framework Act on Artificial Intelligence. However, it is difficult to conclude that the existing legal framework sufficiently addresses the diverse and novel problems arising from AI-driven e-commerce, including issues related to hyper-personalization. Therefore, it is necessary to accurately grasp the technical characteristics and utility of AI and establish new regulatory standards that maintain a balance between enhancing consumer convenience and preventing harm. Furthermore, sophisticated legal analysis and policy supplements must be continuously pursued to address emerging challenges such as hyper-personalization, AI bias, and the intensification of market monopolies.