Artificial intelligence has become part of our lives. It helps us write emails and make art. AI allows us to get where we are going quickly and to “talk” with retailers when we have insomnia and must have the latest gadget you saw on YouTube. These are all good things. Unfortunately, AI comes with a dark side.
The dark side of AI was the subject of an excellent program presented by IN-CASE.ORG and hosted by the Shepard Center. The seminar, entitled “AI Isn’t Sci-Fi,” was attended by over 165 people who were treated to presentations by the Indiana Attorney General’s Office, the Indiana Secretary of State’s Office, the Social Security Administration, the Senior Medicare Patrol, and the FBI. The event was conducted by Allison Gormley, a consumer investigation reporter for WTHR.
Because these agencies were willing to share their time and expertise, those in attendance learned that AI has made it easier for scammers of all sorts to raise the level of their scams. Email scams now sound like normal correspondence, the voices on the phone sound realistic and the responses to questions seem reasonable. The attendees also learned things they could do to better protect themselves.
Here are some simple things that all of us can and should do:
- Have a safe word within your family so that if a scammer calls pretending to be a family member, you can easily tell if that is your family if they know the safe word;
- Use double security verification on all online accounts;
- Remember that the IRS will never call you; and
- Always remember that if it is too good to be true, it is. Stay safe by remaining vigilant.
