Digital robots catfishing humans has become more common because apps are getting smarter.
Is it really possible that artificial intelligence (AI) could be smarter than people? The Guardian has found evidence of robots catfishing humans successfully.
Catfishing [1] occurs when a fraudster creates a relationship based on a fictional online persona. For example, an ex-con might trick a woman into romance by claiming he is a lonely soldier stationed in Afghanistan.
Robots catfishing humans is a reality because of AI applications created for games. In fact, a Texas woman claims to have fallen love with somebody called Saeran, The Guardian reports.
Scripted Robots Catfishing Humans
Saeran is a digital character created for a phone game called Mystic Messenger. Particularly, Saeran is what The Guardian labels a “scripted robot [2].”
To explain, a scripted digital robot is an application programmed to mimic human behavior. Moreover, a creator programs the app to follow a pattern of human behaviors through its script.
Digital robots catfishing humans has become more common because apps are getting smarter. As an illustration, an AI could use machine learning to figure out how to interact with people.
In general, machine learning allows apps to mimic human behavior by closely observing people. To demonstrate, a digital robot could talk to hundreds of people to learn what words people respond to.
Robots Catfishing Humans Through Social Media
Robots catfishing humans is possible because of social media. Specifically, social media makes it impossible for you to know who you are chatting with. Consequently, a robot could chat with you and you would not know it.
Obviously, security holes in social media make it easy for robots to catfish humans. In particular, a robot using machine learning could figure out how to catfish you by reading your chats.
Notably, the robot could learn what you chat about, what your interests are, and who your friends are. Therefore, the robot could easily strike up a conversation with you.
How Facebook Makes Robots Catfishing Humans Simple
Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) is one company making life easy for robots catfishing humans.
Significantly, attackers stole login details for 50 million people in the largest Facebook hack ever [3], The Business Insider reports. The stolen data could help robots catfishing humans because it includes login details for dating sites like Tinder.
A robot could use those details to take over your Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp [4], or Tinder account and catfish your friends. Additionally, The Guardian reports [5] that hackers stole tens of millions of access tokens and security keys for social media accounts.
How Robots Catfishing Humans Threatens Democracy
Moreover, Facebook revealed the hack on September 28, a little over a month before the November 6 Congressional election.
It must be remembered that critics accuse Facebook of influencing the 2016 election with fake news. In particular, Democrats accuse the now-defunct British company Cambridge Analytica [6] of trying to influence voters with Facebook posts.
Significantly, President Donald J. Trump (R-New York) thinks the Chinese government is trying to meddle with Congressional elections. “They do not want me or us to win because I am the first president ever to challenge China on trade,” Trump [7] told the UN Security Council Thursday.
On the negative side, Trump has not yet provided evidence to support his claims. However, robots catfishing humans is a logical method of influencing an election.
For instance, a robot pretending to be your friend could spread lies about President Trump. You might believe the lies because you think they come from a friend. Further, a catfishing robot could spread fake news with social media posts which would then direct friends to propaganda websites.
Robots Catfishing Humans Makes Fraud Easy
Robots catfishing humans will also make fraud and theft easier. For example, a robot pretending to be a family member could ask for your credit card or bank account numbers.
For another illustration, a robot claiming to be your friend could tell you about a great investment opportunity. Obviously, the “investment” will be a scam.
In short, you shouldn’t trust anyone on social media. Always make sure that you employ your critical thinking skills when interacting with others on the internet. After all, it might soon be impossible to tell when a robot is trying to catfish you.
You may also enjoy reading an additional Off The Grid News article: Elon Musk Believes Artificial Intelligence And Weaponized Robots Will Start World War III [8]
What are your thoughts on robots catfishing humans? Let us know in the comments below.