UK telco O2 has introduced its latest fraud prevention tool, an AI-powered character named “Daisy” (stylised as “dAIsy”), whose mission is to waste scammers‘ time by engaging them in long, rambling conversations. According to the company, the chat bot mimics an elderly woman, and is deployed in the list of frequently targeted phone numbers.
O2 says Daisy was developed using advanced AI technologies and trained with the help of YouTube scambaiting expert Jim Browning. It can autonomously engage scam callers in lifelike, rambling conversations, wasting their time without any input from its creators. According to British telco, the AI has managed to keep scammers on the line for almost an hour, derailing their fraudulent attempts.
Additionally, Daisy integrates multiple AI models that work together in real time. During calls, the system also transcribes the caller’s voice into text, generating responses through a custom language model with a built-in personality layer, and converting these responses into speech using an AI text-to-speech system. The video above demonstrates the chatbot in action, featuring snippets from actual calls with unsuspecting scam artists, at least according to O2.
Since its deployment, Daisy has reportedly frustrated scammers with fabricated stories and false personal details, such as fake bank information. O2 adds that by exploiting common biases about elderly individuals, the AI has not only wasted scammers’ time, but also highlighted their tactics for further analysis.
(Source: O2 [official website])
