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British telecom Virgin Media O2 enlisted an "AI granny" to fight scammers

Virgin Media O2 has launched dAIsy, an AI-powered chatbot that poses as a grandmother to engage and waste scammers' time by keeping them on the line with meandering conversations about knitting, family, and pets.

Ellie Ramirez-Camara profile image
by Ellie Ramirez-Camara
British telecom Virgin Media O2 enlisted an "AI granny" to fight scammers
Credit: O2

On Thursday, Virgin Media O2 introduced dAIsy, an AI granny, as its latest weapon against scammers. dAIsy is a custom chatbot that sounds like a human granny and is designed to answer scam calls to keep scammers in the line as long as possible to waste their time and prevent them from targeting real victims. In other words, dAIsy automates scambaiting, a strategy typically involving people posing as potential victims.

Just like dAIsy, human scam baiters also waste scammers' time and resources, expose the fraudsters' strategies, and compile information that could be helpful for law enforcement agencies. However, unlike human scammers and scam baiters, dAIsy does not need to sleep, eat, or take time off from work, which means it can stay all day and night keeping scammers busy. O2 claims that dAIsy's introductory video features real conversations with scammers, who can be heard losing their patience as they speak with a rather uncooperative dAIsy, who would much rather chat about her love of knitting, family members, and cat Fluffy.

To enhance dAIsy's believability, the AI that powers dAIsy was trained with the help of Jim Browning, a popular YouTube scam baiter. VCCP Faith, the creative agency that created dAIsy, based the AI granny's voice on a staff member's grandmother. To boost dAIsy's effectiveness, O2 gave it a dedicated number, which O2's anti-fraud team has included in phone lists known to be used by scammers. The mobile network has also recommended users forward suspicious calls and text messages to a specific number.

Ellie Ramirez-Camara profile image
by Ellie Ramirez-Camara
Updated

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