Deepfakes, phone scams: Expert talks risks associated with artificial intelligence

JACKSON, Tenn. — Artificial intelligence is rapidly growing everyday, and the amount of dangers that could come from it may not be fully understood.

One of the main dangers of AI that is happening today is phone scamming. There are multiple ways that people are using AI to scam over the phone.

Toby Braun, the founder of American Special Investigative Group, sat down and spoke with us about some of the dangers.

“The most predominate we’re seeing right now is where there’s two things that take place,” Braun said. “One is where an individual gets a phone call and there’s a sense of urgency. The second thing is usually there’s a misrepresentation or an impersonation. That impersonation could be a family member, it could be law enforcement, or some other official agency that this individual claims to be from.”

Another danger that is happening from artificial intelligence is the creation of deepfakes. This could consist of a wide variety of things. It is mainly used to make it look like a particular person is doing or saying something.

“So it could be using a real person’s face and then using this generative AI to either undress this person or attach certain parts to this person that aren’t real. That ultimately creates a deep fake image,” Braun said.

Braun says that more needs to be done to cut down on these dangers. While he does say that he believes this is more of a cultural issue, there are some ideas on how to cut down on these challenges.

“Not enough is being done about it and we have to take a much more aggressive action against this rising issues,” Braun said. “Really, laws. We have to have stricter laws in place. And we need more law enforcement action as well.”

According to AP News, 10 states that have enacted legislative action for deepfake use.

Braun also said to limit the amount of information you have on the internet and continue to monitor your information.

For more news across the U.S., click here.