Artificial intelligence has been such a conundrum in the technological world lately.
It has offered many advantages in people’s daily tasks, especially in automating menial tasks.
They provide more than just access to information; but also in making sense of all the digital clutter online.
AI can also help produce different media to consume in a knick of time.
That same convenience poses a problem, especially regarding integrity and safety.
Educators have been discussing ensuring that students’ outputs are made by themselves and not by AI.
There are artists raising awareness of stolen art due to AI-generated materials.
There’s also a danger that AI will be used in committing crimes – and that’s not far from reality.
It already happened as this mother from Scottsdale, Arizona, received a call from an unknown number, and the first voice she heard on the other line was chilling.
It was her daughter, Brie. Or so she thought it was.
Jennifer DeStefano heard her daughter say, “Mom, I messed up,” sobbing.
The voice, who sounded a lot like Brie, said that some men had grabbed her and her phone away from her.
She had no idea what was happening until a man spoke to her.
The man initially demanded $1 Million in ransom money, which he later lowered to $50,000.
He told Jen what to do – he would pick her up, and she better have the money, or they would both die.
Dread filled Jen’s body as she tried to figure out what to do next. She put her phone on mute and asked for help.
Luckily, she was around friends and family, and they assisted her as they listened to the call via the speaker.
They helped her call 911 to alert the police and call her husband and Brie to be sure it was her daughter she spoke with a few moments ago.
911 told them this was a scam – people using AI to generate or copy a loved one’s voice, pretend they have them, and ask for ransom money.
Jen shared her experience on her Facebook page to raise awareness.
She said she did not dismiss the call easily because the woman’s voice sounded exactly like her daughter’s.
Also, one of her friends’ experienced actual kidnapping, which didn’t end well.
The horror of that reality crept into her mind as she stood stunned, listening to what sounded like Brie’s voice.
Jen’s husband confirmed that Brie was with him and her little brother.
The family, especially Brie, had no idea how the caller got her voice
. They were thankful that it was all a scam and didn’t send out any ransom money.
However, they wanted to raise awareness not only about people using AI to copy their voices but also about being vigilant about abductions.
AI Expert and Berkeley Professor Hany Farid said it only takes about five minutes to copy one’s voice.
For example, he searched for Inside Edition’s Alison Hall’s interviews and reports on YouTube, downloaded a clip of her voice, and uploaded it to an AI online service.
He typed some sentences, and it generated what seemed like Alison saying all those.
Click the video below to learn more about how scammers are integrating AI into their methods.
