O2's AI Granny Deployed to Combat Phone Scammers
Brief news summary
Daisy Harris, an AI-generated "granny" created by the British phone company O2, is designed to help combat phone scammers. With a fondness for birds, knitting, and tea, Daisy provides a friendly and time-consuming distraction for fraudsters who try to scam people over the phone. Her primary function is to waste the scammers' time, which helps reduce the number of successful phone scams. This initiative was developed in collaboration with the advertising agency VCCP as part of broader efforts to tackle the growing problem of phone scams. According to phone security company Hiya, tens of millions of fraudulent calls are made daily worldwide, and an anti-scam consortium has reported over $1 trillion in losses due to scams where individuals accidentally provide sensitive information like banking details or passwords. Daisy represents a creative application of AI to address this widespread issue by engaging scammers in lengthy conversations, thereby protecting potential victims.Daisy Harris is fond of birds—there's one right outside her window. She has a cat named Fluffy and enjoys discussing her knitting hobby. She also likes tea and biscuits but struggles to understand the internet. Could you perhaps explain it again? This captures the essence of chatting with Daisy Harris, an AI-created granny introduced this month by the British telecom company O2 as part of its strategy to combat phone scammers. While she doesn't carry a badge or warrant and can't directly stop scammers, Daisy can waste their time indefinitely when they call her. “These people can’t just talk to thousands of scammers, ” said Morten Legarth, who collaborated on creating Daisy with the London advertising agency VCCP. “But there’s an idea that A. I.
can. ” Phone scams have soared to astonishing heights, with tens of millions of scam calls made worldwide every day last year, as reported by the phone security firm Hiya. An anti-scam group states that over $1 trillion has been stolen, with many victims unknowingly providing bank details, passwords, or personal information. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode, please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for complete access. Already a subscriber?Log in. Want full access to The Times?Subscribe.
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O2's AI Granny Deployed to Combat Phone Scammers
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