Expert shows how artificial intelligence is being used by scammers to create fraudulent phone calls
ITV Channel reporter Tim Backshall has been learning more about artificial intelligence and how scammers are taking advantage of the software.
People in Jersey have been learning about the positive impacts and potential dangers of artificial intelligence (AI).
Rory Steel, Head of the Digital Jersey Academy, and AI course director Vincent Sider have been demonstrating the software's potential in education but also how it can get taken advantage of by fraudsters.
Vincent explains: "People expect AI to think, to be smart and to be intelligent. That's not the case at all, that's not the way it works.
"It's about taking large copies of data and finding patterns in the data to predict the next sequence in the text."
Rory shows how scammers can ask the system to convince people to buy things, demonstrating: "Write me a script to convince someone to buy some Bitcoin, time is running out because Bitcoin is at an all-time high and you need to take advantage of this opportunity quick."
Using an AI-generated voice, the system can generate a message within seconds which would be used to fool the public and persuade them to spend their money over the phone.
In response to Rory's request, the software created this: "Hi there, a quick thing. Bitcoin is at an all-time high, signalling a potentially massive shift. We're looking at a unique window of opportunity that might not come around again."
Rory warned that this type of scam is being seen in Jersey and elsewhere.
Despite the dangers of artificial intelligence, it can also be a powerful tool for learning and some pupils are already using the system.
Amelia Maddison, a Jersey College for Girls student, says it helps her revise: "What I've recently been finding out is how to screenshot your notes and AI can read and summarise that information.
"It can then put it into flashcards and even put it into exam questions which you can then answer and it will give you feedback on those answers you give it."
Fellow student Grace Fudge adds: "I would put an essay I've written with the mark scheme into AI and Chat GPT [a popular free AI programme] would mark it for me and give me feedback so I can do that along with what my teacher is telling me."