Here’s a prediction, with a little bit of futurism…and a then a guide to dealing with the increasing AI slimy-ness of scammers.
Prediction
So, there’s this thing they call the Dead Internet Theory. I think that there is currently a lot of truth to that, in a lot of places. Twitter X is full of bots talking to other bots. Every time I go there, I regret it. I haven’t simply deleted my account because…well, I don’t know why, actually.
While I don’t spend time on Facebook, my Mom does (like all people her age) and I hear the AI narrator voice on every other video she watches. In those cases, I know that the whole video, script, images, narration was likely done by the machine.
I also hear that same AI voice and imagery coming from YouTube videos constantly. Some of that content is even the opposite of informative. I’ve even recently seen a person who is an expert on WW2 talking about how AI images of WW2 are proliferating, making most people believe fake things about that time.
LinkedIn has always been my refuge. It’s always been real people who aren’t sharing pictures of their lunch, their politics, or the latest story of how amazing their kids are. But more and more, that has been changing too. My feed is filled with posts says way too much about some dude’s product with obligatory em-dashes and emojis, letting me know that he probably didn’t write it, and I’m likewise not going to read it.
I’m not against AI doing the hard work, but overuse is creating a wasteland out there. I’m not even talking about the scams for now. I’ll get into that in the next part.
Even worse, I remember in college sociology hearing a lot of talk about how we are in the information age. I wrote a thesis paper called The Dis-information Age, talking about how false information would proliferate increasingly. I feel like Nostradamus.
So, here’s the prediction
You know how in Star Wars, the bartender tells the R2D2 and C3PO in Mos Eisley Cantina that droids aren’t allowed inside, and they’ll have to wait inside?
AI proliferates on YouTube, X, Facebook, and now LinkedIn because there is no cost to doing so. If you are a human, you get on those networks for $0. If you run a giant bot army, your cost is also $0. The picture changes if that changes. Add to that, the adage that if something is free to use, then you are the product. Escaping constant and growing ads is attractive.
If suddenly Linkbook charges $5/year for admission, then it becomes a much more non-botty place. If you run a network of 10,000 bots, suddenly you have to pay $50k just for entry, and if you are found out and your bots banned, then you don’t get a refund.
We know that AI is here to stay. We know that sales, scammers, and AstroTurf propagandists use AI bots. This is not to mention the constant ads.
We also know that it’s wearying.
Within 5 years, we will all be on a new social network that has a cover charge.
There are huge potential downsides, and I’m not advocating for this, but it will happen by 2030.
My guide to surviving the AI scammers
You may have missed it so far, but it’s happening. AI will soon be used to scam a new way. I’ve already seen it. It might go like this:
You get a message from someone on LinkedIn. It might be about something innocuous. It might be about a cool side-hustle or business opportunity. It isn’t like the old cold-reading trick of not saying anything specific. No, this is the opposite.
If you are into collecting stamps and breeding prize-winning huskies, it might come from “Alaskan Huskie and Stamp Collecting Foundation of America” (AHSCFA). They’ve heard about your expertise in the field and even read some of your posts. They are really impressed.
You ask questions, and they respond. They respond in ways that let you know that they actually read your message, and they respond pretty quickly. Not instantly, but quickly.
Eventually, they let it slip with a “click here,” mention of Crypto, their desire to use WhatsApp, or something that lets you know that this wasn’t real all along. It was a scam. But a really good scam that used AI to do research and interact with you.
Incidentally, it might not be the big government AI’s that will usher in the Terminator-style apocalypse. It might be the AI that is trained to use humans to reach its own goals, that kills us all eventually. Training AI to cheat people is evil. People are evil, but making AI that is trained to be evil is another step in that direction. But, I digress.
There is one scam that I see all the time, but don’t hear much about it in the media. I’ve never fallen for it, but I did hear about it some time ago, and so I knew what it was from the start, but I must have my phone number on some list that they use, because I get them about every week. Please be aware of it.
The Pig Butchering Scam
If you haven’t been told about this, it is actually a big deal. It starts usually with a “wrong number” text. You look at it and wrinkle your brow. It’s some poor lost soul. Run away. It’s not real. She’s not real. She isn’t really a fashion designer in NYC or San Francisco who also happens to dabble in crypto. I know it seems real. She’ll even show you selfies and pictures of the roads, and is astonishingly familiar with things. Here’s the deal, though: “Kaitlin” is actually a 40-year old man named Wei-shi from western China. He’s OK if this scam takes a year to unfold. Run away. It’s not Kismet. It’s a scam.
Run away from these people. There are very sophisticated ways of helping to part you with your money, and scammers do this all day long. They specialize in this. You do not. Enjoy some of the great YouTube channels dedicated to this, but don’t engage.
If you happen to “be in a relationship” with someone that you met through a wrong number, I’m sorry to tell you. You might feel a powerful feeling for this person, but it is just about parting you with your money. That might be hard to believe, but it’s true.
How to identify a Scam
I’m not making an exhaustive list here. This is more art that science, but here are a few tips.
- If it sounds too good to be true, it is. If they have a job for 4 hours a week that pays $2,000 a month, there would already be a line way in front of you. You didn’t luck out. They did, if you believe it.
- Ask what you said that really caught their eye. The AI might have been reading up on your stuff, but it will usually be vague in telling what you did to impress.
- Do not click a link at all or call the phone number…ever, when you are contacted by your credit card company, cell phone provider, the government, etc. Turn over your actual card and call the number on the back. Go get your bill and call them from that number, etc. Then if they want to talk to you, they will route you to the right person.
- Stay away from Crypto if you don’t already know about and invest. You won’t pay a bill in crypto or get paid in Crypto unless you are already using it.
- You don’t need to move the conversation to WhatsApp, or any other platform. They are already doing just fine on the channel that they are using. They will have reasons. Those reasons are disingenuous.
- Avoid a sense of urgency. This is an old manipulation tactic, that you will often see in sales (think of a sketchy car salesman). If someone tries to pressure you to do something immediately, they are usually trying to manipulate you. They will tell you that the deal won’t exist tomorrow. The truth is, that they will sell you that thing tomorrow.