ARTIFICIAL intelligence is being used by criminals to hoodwink victims – but there are signs to look for that give them away.
Cybersecurity experts have given The U.S. Sun some tips on how to identify when you're talking to an AI chatbot and not a real person.
AI is improving at a blistering pace so it's becoming increasingly difficult to tell chatbots apart from real people.
Experts say crooks can use AI chatbots to easily execute scams convincingly for multiple victims at once.
That means it's more important than ever to be able to know if you're talking to a scammer bot.
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The U.S. Sun spoke to security awareness advocate at KnowBe4 Dr. Martin J. Kraemer, who revealed a key question to ask – and why you should look for patterns in conversations.
"Let's take romance scams as an example," Kraemer said.
"To find out whether you are talking to a bot or a real person, you can (1) ask for recent events, (2) look for repetitive patterns, and (3) be aware of any action that is asked of you.
"Malicious chat bots do not really want to chat afterall.
"They want you to take an action that is beneficial for an attacker but not for you.
"Be aware of the chat partner pushing your buttons and emotionally manipulating you.
"That is creating any request to help them out of a seemingly difficult situation which requires financial resources or other favors, and which appears to be getting worse over time.
"Especially, where you are allegedly the only person that can help. Are some or all of these true for your chat, then you are being manipulated."
Asking for info on recent events banks on the fact that some AI chatbots don't have up-to-date information – because they were trained a while ago.
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If the person you're talking to gives a convincing answer to that query, it's not a guarantee that you're talking to a human.
But if the person you're talking to fails the question, it's a dead giveaway that they're a chatbot.
OTHER CLUES TO SPOT
The U.S. Sun recently revealed some other signs that you're talking to an AI chatbot.
We spoke to Paul, consumer privacy advocate at Comparitech, who explained that there are three clues to watch for.
"Look out for repetitive responses that seem to lack humor and empathy," Paul explained to The U.S. Sun.
"Bots usually have impeccable spelling and grammar but clunky, wooden phrasing.
"Consistently fast response times are another sign."
Generally it's important to be cautious when you see the usual scam red flags too – artificial intelligence chatbot or not.
Be aware of the chat partner pushing your buttons and emotionally manipulating you.
Dr. Martin J. Kraemer
So if someone on a social media site is asking for money or info urgently, that's a worrying sign.
It's especially important to be wary if they're requesting payments using strange methods like cryptocurrency or gift cards.
Remember: be cautious, patient, and use common sense – if something seems too good to be true then it probably is.
