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via Victor Gladkov
Even if you hate AI, you probably hate scammers more. These predatory criminals, who spend their days targeting vulnerable people—especially the elderly—deserve every ounce of frustration we can throw at them. Enter Daisy, an AI-powered "grandma" whose entire purpose in life is to keep scammers on the phone for as long as possible, wasting their time and driving them absolutely insane.
Developed by O2, Daisy is a chatbot designed to mimic a sweet but very confused elderly woman. When fraudsters call her, she gleefully leads them on tangents about knitting patterns, scones, and the mysteries of the night sky. A scammer might try to get her to install malware, only for her to fumble with finding her glasses, reminiscing about the "simpler days," or mistaking an icon for a delicious slice of pie. It's like a Looney Tunes trap but for telemarketers who deserve it.
Over the course of the project, Daisy managed to keep some scammers on the line for up to 40 minutes, valuable time they could have spent targeting real victims. O2 even worked with well-known scam-baiter Jim Browning to make sure Daisy was placed in the direct path of fraudsters. While this specific AI experiment was meant to raise awareness rather than be a permanent tool, it proves a crucial point: AI can be used for good, and nothing is more satisfying than flipping the script on criminals who make a living out of deception.
But here's the real question—how long until scammers start using their own AI-powered bots? At some point, we might not have humans running these scams at all, just one AI trying to con another AI into handing over fake bank details. The future might just hold an endless battle of wits (and patience) between bots, as they attempt to out-stall, out-confuse, and outlast each other in an eternal game of digital cat and mouse.
Want to see Daisy in action? Check out the video below from The Guardian and enjoy watching scammers get a taste of their own medicine.