Cybersecurity experts created a chatbot that exhausts scammers
Australia has developed an AI capable of defeating phone criminals
A chatbot capable of psychologically exhausting phone scammers has been developed by cybersecurity experts from Macquarie University in Australia.
The idea originated from Professor Dali Kaafar, who engaged in a 40-minute conversation with the scammers before they terminated the call. Recognizing the potential for automating the process of “wearing out” scammers, the scientist embarked on developing a solution.
The resulting chatbot, named Apate after the ancient Greek goddess of lies and deceit, was trained on real transcripts of conversations with scammers. In addition to text-based communication, voice replication technology was incorporated into the AI system.
Currently, Apate can sustain a conversation with a scammer for five minutes, but the researchers aim to extend the duration to 40 minutes. The developers highlight that the chatbot is even capable of navigating situations where it lacks requested information.
The scientists involved in the project state that their model efficiently utilises scammers’ time and decreases the number of individuals who become victims of scams. They explain that by disrupting the criminal business model, they are creating a significantly more difficult environment for fraudsters to steal money.
