Scams and Shams
In the past year, both companies and consumers have heard and reaped the benefits artificial intelligence has produced for the world, but what exactly are the immediate downsides? Although there have been several discussions of broader labor market issues, several have overlooked one key area that affects everyone daily: cybersecurity. Tech titan Microsoft recently included in a report the methods in which external parties have abused its own software and technology. State-backed hackers from Russia, China, and Iran have been found to use Microsoft’s AI-based tools to improve their own malpractices. Although Microsoft described the actual violations and hacking as “early-stage”, it still remains a breakthrough that may need to be further addressed in the near future.
Across the broader nation, it has been noted how generative AI has ramped up the ability of phishing. Through the old method of phishing, hackers and scammers deceive people and employees through fake emails designed to create a sense of urgency that leads to the loss of sensitive information. Currently, it was noted that more than 25% of companies ban their employees from using these higher technologies. As the antithesis to ChatGPT, the dark-web-born FraudGPT serves to facilitate cyber-attacks, with tools created with the intent to scam over a virtual space. In 2022, it was found that 65% of respondents reported their company to be at the losing end of fraud, with 71% of those comprised through email. With AI-based tools now in the mainstream, access to increased cyber-attacks could be a pressing issue that needs to be further addressed by employees, companies, and Americans as a whole.
