HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming more widespread. AARP warns seniors to use it as another tool for scammers.

“Before, you could FaceTime someone to see if they were the real person. I don’t know with AI if that will be the case anymore,” said AARP Hawaii Director Kealii Lopez.

“AI can be used to deepfake images and can clone voices, so you can get used to hearing (someone’s) voice, but it’s actually been cloned and it’s someone else.

The concern comes as the US Marshals Service reports an increase in phone scammers posing as law enforcement officials asking for money, falsely claiming to be solving arrest warrants, court cases or failing to show up for jury duty .

“If a law enforcement officer has something they need to deal with you, they’re going to do it in person,” said Justin Davis, Marshall for the District of Hawaii.

“I have a lawyer friend who got a call from a sheriff that if she doesn’t pay this contempt bond — and the thing was so good, they used all the right legal terms. And she’s a lawyer, like a legal lawyer, and she almost fell for it,” said digital creator and tech writer Shawn Boyd.

Boyd said whether it’s phone calls or video chats, we all need to know the telltale signs of a scam.

“Normally, it’s the breaks. It’s the weird intonations. It’s the weird eye movies that don’t match what you expect,” he said.

But as AI advances, these quirks may soon disappear, so we’ll have to be even more discerning.

“When we say ‘howzit,’ we tilt our heads a little bit. We don’t just say ‘howzit,’ we go, ‘howzit!'” he said with a slight tilt of his head. “It’s always a little high. So if you’ve seen a deepfake of someone saying “howzit” and the head doesn’t tilt back, it’s fake. It’s a deepfake,” he said with a laugh.

It’s funny to realize this, but it might not be a laughing matter for the kupuna, who are the most often targeted. That’s why, next month, AARO is organizing online courses on AI.

“Technology is going to be critical,” Lopez said. “The complexity is growing, I think, exponentially. And we want kupuna to be part of the future.”

The AARP will hold online courses on AI starting Tuesday, November 5 and the following two Tuesdays. More information on how to sign up is available Here. You do not have to be an AARP member to participate.

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