Hickok: Scammers are increasingly using AI to trick victims

As artificial intelligence technology grows smarter — generating credible text, image, video and audio — scammers are increasingly using AI to dupe victims. 

An Insider reporter wrote about her experience of interviewing a cancer survivor then later learning she was speaking to an AI the entire time. 

University of Michigan School of Information lecturer Merve Hickok says these technologies — and the rapid access of these technologies to everyday citizens — is putting people at risk. 

"For the victims, it's a one-off; for the criminal, it's a learning process,” she says. 

"It erodes your trust toward your sources, toward what you see, what you hear," Hickok said. "It erodes trust toward journalism, towards institutions — ultimately, toward democracy."

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Read “I interviewed a breast-cancer survivor who wanted me to tell her story. She was actually an AI” on Insider. 

Learn more about Hickok’s research on artificial intelligence and ethics by visiting her UMSI faculty profile.