Hardly a day goes by when the media isn’t warning us that AI is about to change our world. Maybe some are skeptics, but I absolutely believe it will.
And there is one reason I believe that is the case – AI Voice.
In less than one year, voice cloning has gone from sounding completely robotic, to completely authentic and indistinguishable from the real thing.
The Progress Of AI Voice Clones In Just One Year Is Astounding
In December of last year, I heard about AI voice cloning. So I decided to try it myself and see how good it was.
December 2022 Voice Cloning Result
I went to Resemble.AI , uploaded a sample of my voice and created a clone. Then I created a script and it produced this audio for me.
It sounds very robotic, but in a pinch, it could fool someone. Have a listen.
August 2023 Voice Cloning Result – An Incredibly Vast Improvement
So 9 months have past, the AI models have improved, so I decided to try it again.
This time I used Elevenlabs.io to see if it had gotten any better. So I went through the same process. I uploaded a sample of my voice and created a new script to see how it did.
The result shocked me. It was far, far better. In fact it sounded incredibly real.
You be the judge though. One of these two videos is a real recording of me that I made, and the other is an AI Voice.
Can you tell me which is real?
First Video – Is This Really Me, Or A Clone?
Second Video – Is This Really Me, Or A Clone?
So what do you think. Can you tell which is which?
It’s surprising how good it is right?
What Types Of Scams Can We Expect To Flourish With These Voice Clones?
These deepfake voices are going to result in a dramatic increase in 3 types of scams.
#1 – Imposter Scams From Executives Within Your Company Or Your Boss
Imagine getting a voicemail from your boss instructing you that he needed you to help him update an invoice, transfer money, or provide him some sensitive information about yourself.
The voice is perfect. It sounds like him. Why would you question it? Indeed, Cyber Experts believe that the next wave of scams will take it a step further and be Deepfake Video Calls From Your Boss.
#2 – BEC Scams
Business Email Compromise scams will breakout to a new level. With the help of deepfake AI Voice, scammers will be able to notch up their attacks, mimicking voices of the CEO perfectly to fool the accounting department into sending large wire transfers.
#3 – Extortion and Ransom Scams
Ransom scams using AI voices are already happening right now. Parents are getting calls from their kids who are crying for help. But those calls are 100% fabricated with artificial cloned voices.
We are at the beginning of a wave of extortion and ransom scams that we have never seen before.
5 Ways To Stop An AI Voice Scammer In Their Tracks
For everything that AI Voice can do, there are certain things that it is not yet good at. And that is what you need to rely on
- It’s not dynamic. Everything has to be scripted and generated as recordings beforehand.
- It can’t sing or hum or change pitch like a human voice.
- It cannot answer your questions
So here are 5 ways you can use if you think are dealing with an AI Voice clone.
#1 – Ask A Random Question
What is the weather there in <whatever random city they say>?
If it’s an AI deepfake voice, they will likely hang up, or give a wrong answer.
#2 – Ask Them To Hum The Notes To A Song, Any Song
They won’t be able to do it. At least not in the voice they have cloned.
#3 – Say Something Funny And Watch Them Not Be Able To Respond Appropriately
AI voice clones will not know how to respond to a joke. They won’t laugh because they can’t and they will likely respond with something basic that doesn’t make sense.
AI doesn’t get jokes very well.
#4. Listen for Repetitive Responses
AI voice clones will typically provide the same scripted answers over and over. That is because they have limited ability to come up with new statements on the fly. They are just using recordings.
#5 – Ask Them Something Personal, They Should Know
If you’re dealing with a scammer, they will be acting as an imposter and they won’t have the detail the real person would know.
Ask them something they should know. They will either hang up, or respond with incorrect information, or avoid the question all together.
Thanks For Reading
Thanks for reading this blog and my predictions on Voice Cloning.
What do you think? Does this new AI capability spell trouble for scams?