The voice you hear on the other end of your phone call may not be who you think it is, the person you91裸聊视频檙e texting with may really be a bot and the face in a photo or video on your favourite dating app may not even exist.
Technological advancements in artificial intelligence create the potential to fuel romance scams, said Jeff Clune, an associate professor of computer science at the University of British Columbia.
Scammers now have 91裸聊视频渕ore tools in their tool box to hoodwink people, especially people who are not aware of recent advances in technology,91裸聊视频� he said in an interview.
Such advancements include voice simulators, face generators, deepfakes, in which an existing image or video is used to create fake but believable video footage, and chat bots like Chat GPT that generate humanlike text responses.
The Canadian Antifraud Centre has reported romance scams skyrocketed during the mass online shift caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. It said the fraud schemes often involve convincing a victim to enter a virtual, online relationship and once trust and affection is developed, swindlers use that emotional leverage to request money, cryptocurrency, gifts or investments.
The centre has warned that Valentine91裸聊视频檚 Day provides an 91裸聊视频渙pportunity for fraudsters to target Canadians looking for a relationship.91裸聊视频� Its latest available data revealed 1,928 reports of romance scams totalling more than $64.5 million in losses in 2021, a nearly 25 per cent jump from the year before.
Its Cyber Threat Assessment for 2023/2024 flagged convincing deepfake technology and artificial intelligence, or AI, text generators as potential 91裸聊视频渢hreat actors.91裸聊视频�
91裸聊视频淎s deepfakes become harder to distinguish from genuine content and the tools to create convincing deepfakes become more widely available, cyber threat actors will very likely further incorporate the technology into their use of (misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation) campaigns, allowing them to increase the scope, scale, and believability of influence activities,91裸聊视频� the analysis said.
91裸聊视频淭ext generators have progressed to a point where the content they produce is often nearly indecipherable from legitimate material.91裸聊视频�
Clune said that scams utilizing aspects of AI technology still require a person pulling the strings, but that could soon change.
91裸聊视频淓ven though scamming is very prevalent right now, there91裸聊视频檚 still a cost to do it because a human has to sit there and spend their time, but if you can have AI do it to a million people a day and just sit and watch the money roll in, that91裸聊视频檚 a scary place to be 91裸聊视频� and that is something that is possible with this technology,91裸聊视频� he said.
Suzie Dunn, an assistant professor at the Schulich School of Law at Dalhousie University, said the law has not kept up with technology, leaving 91裸聊视频渕ajor gaps91裸聊视频� in the legal framework.
91裸聊视频淥ne of the challenges that we have around impersonation laws is that, under the Criminal Code of Canada, you actually have to be impersonating an existing person,91裸聊视频� Dunn said in an interview.
She said software that allows people to create a non-existent individual, with a fake accent, voice or face, poses legal complications.
91裸聊视频淚f you91裸聊视频檙e using someone91裸聊视频檚 images or using someone91裸聊视频檚 name, then it can be counted as a form of impersonation, but with these new technologies, where you can actually create a non-existent person, the types of harms that are often meant to be covered under these impersonation rules aren91裸聊视频檛 really covered.91裸聊视频�
Victims must rely on existing extortion and fraud laws, she said.
91裸聊视频淲e don91裸聊视频檛 need new extortion laws. Extortion is extortion whether it91裸聊视频檚 being done by deepfakes or by a regular person,91裸聊视频� she added.
91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 also a major gap there in what role the platforms play in addressing the harms that occur on them.91裸聊视频�
Dunn said corporations, including AI developers, dating and social media platforms, should be aware of the potential harms and put the necessary safeguards in place.
Clune agreed. He said new technology 91裸聊视频渨ill always be out in front of the laws and the politicians.91裸聊视频�
He said the pace of progress in the field is 91裸聊视频渂reathtaking,91裸聊视频� and it will continue, if not accelerate.
91裸聊视频淎lmost anything you can imagine that seems science fiction and futuristic today will be around in a handful of years. It is worth politicians and society engaging in thoughtful conversations about what91裸聊视频檚 coming and trying to get ahead of it and think through what can we do about it.91裸聊视频�
Brieanna Charlebois, The Canadian Press
READ ALSO:
Like us on and follow us on .
