The UK mobile operator Virgin Media O2 recently launched an innovative anti-fraud technology—a virtual AI grandmother named "Daisy," specifically designed to tackle the growing problem of phone scams. Daisy's sole task is to answer scam calls and keep the scammers on the line for as long as possible.
When scammers dial a specific number set up by the operator, this "AI robot that is hard to distinguish from a real person" answers the call. According to O2, they trained this chatbot, which sounds like an elderly woman, using several cutting-edge AI technologies and models, with the involvement of renowned anti-fraud YouTuber Jim Browning in the training process.
Image source: zdnet
The entire call process is fully automated: the AI listens in real-time and converts the caller's voice into text, then generates responses using a customized large language model and character traits, and finally transforms this into natural spoken dialogue through an AI voice synthesis model. All of this happens in real-time without any human intervention.
Although Daisy sounds like a gullible elderly person, she is actually a nightmare for scammers. She may ramble on about stories of her grandchildren or her hobbies, pretend to be clueless about technology, or provide some completely useless fake banking information. Regardless of the approach, her only goal is to waste the scammer's time, preventing them from harassing real victims.
In a demonstration video, Daisy's performance is amusing: she asks, "Do I need to enter three W's and then a dot for the website?" complains that all she can see on her screen is a picture of her cat Fluffy, and then slowly drifts into an endless story. This drives the scammer to the edge, exclaiming, "You're just here to annoy me, aren't you?" and "It's been almost an hour!"
This innovative technology not only showcases the immense potential of AI in the fight against fraud but also highlights the social responsibility of tech companies in protecting user safety. By cleverly utilizing AI technology, Virgin Media O2 has opened up a unique new path in combating telecom fraud.