Daisy the AI Granny: Fighting Scammers, One Dodgy Call at a Time

O2 unveils Daisy, the AI granny wasting scammers’ time:

Created using a range of cutting-edge AI technology and trained with the help of one of YouTube’s best known scambaiters, Jim Browning, Daisy is a lifelike AI Granny completely indistinguishable from a real person. Able to interact with scammers in real time without any input from her creators, O2 has put Daisy to work around the clock answering dodgy calls.

While Meta is busy creating fake AI persona accounts to boost engagement on their platforms – for what we all know, the sole benefit is for generating ad revenue – companies like Virgin Media-O2 are using this technology for a far more noble purpose: safeguarding their customers from fraudulent phone calls.

I’ve watched Jim, an experienced infiltrator and scam reporter, execute his skills for years. His scam baiting sometimes shuts down operations. Jim’s involvement with O2’s Daisy is my only hope this isn’t just a PR stunt.

The world of AI presents both great opportunities and significant challenges, and I’m still in the process of continuous deep-dive learning. As a result, I’m undecided about my perception of AI and its role in today’s world.

I never imagined the first AI-related entry on Chamline would be about an AI Granny, but here we are. I couldn’t resist documenting this¹. I genuinely hope that, despite all the potential good (and bad) AI can do, the noble positive side prevails.

1. I recently saw a friend whose phone call to an airline to rebook her flight was intercepted by scammers. She nearly lost over £500, plus other costs. ↩︎