The Dark Side of Convenience

New forms of artificial intelligence aimed at making our lives easier also pose a dangerous threat.

- William Mansell

WOULDN’T IT BE GREAT IF YOUR SMARTPHONE could call your hairdresser and book an appointment, or haggle with your favorite restaurant for dinner reservations? This past May, Google demonstrated software, called Duplex, that can do just that. The audience of techies was suitably astonished. But consider what it might be like to be on the other end of that conversation—to get a call from a computer sounding like a real human?

That’s how good the next wave of AI is going to be, and it’s not just creepy; it’s dangerous. Security mavens are specifically concerned with “bots”—software on the internet designed to perform tasks with a high degree of autonomy. With software like Google’s Duplex, bad actors could use bots to impersonate not only people but people you know, such as a friend or family member.