Meet Daisy, the ‘AI granny’ taking on telephone scammers

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‘AI granny’ Daisy is the latest weapon in the fight against phone scammers. This AI-powered bot, developed by UK telecom company Virgin Media O2, is designed to outsmart fraudsters by keeping them tied up in conversation for hours. Daisy is the latest tool in the world of scam-baiting, a strategy where scammers are kept on the line to waste their time. Charity Age UK estimates a fifth of all over 50s in the UK fear answering their phones because of scams. Simon Valcarcel, Marketing Director at Virgin Media O2, says, “The reason we used AI is because it doesn’t sleep, it doesn’t eat, you can use it 24 hours a day. It’s a great way to demonstrate the tactics scammers use to keep people on the line. And the best part? When it’s talking to AI, it’s not talking to real people and scamming them out of their hard-earned money.” Behind ‘Daisy’ is a team of developers and creatives who built the AI coding and various models it uses to respond to scammers in real time. As her creators continue to refine Daisy’s capabilities, there are plans for future scenarios, including new personalities and responses to different types of scams. Colin Rigby, a researcher from Keele University says, despite it being unlikely, there is a possibility that sophisticated criminals could fight back against ‘Daisy,’ using just as complex AI technology. Rigby says, “We need to consider the potential for an AI arms race where the people who are scamming and being baited, using AI to scam, and you end up with two AIs essentially learning about each other and at war with one another.” Virgin Media O2 is optimistic that their strategy of using AI in this way is working. The telecoms company has posted Daisy’s phone number on online forums known to be used by scammers. Since then, they say it’s taken over 1,000 calls and kept some people on the phone for over 40 minutes—with no intentions of backing down. This article was provided by The Associated Press.